Shivani Gadhavi
Published On: January 03, 2022 at 17:07 IST
The Supreme Court on January 3, 2022 rejected the plea of the West Bengal Government which sought interference of the Top Court in the Order passed by a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court which declined a Letter Patent Appeal (LPA) against a Single Judge decision which put a stay on criminal proceedings against Suvendu Adhikari.
Justice D Y Chandrachud of the Supreme Court stated, “We will not entertain this for the simple reason that the order of the single judge was challenged under Article 136 before us. We have dealt with the challenge on merits. Where is the question of going in an LPA when you have argued everything before us in SLP?”
The Top Court also stated, “We had dealt with the challenge to the same judgment which was disposed off on December 13, 2021. The matter was argued at length. What was challenged in SLP was the order of 6 September 2021, the order of the single judge. The order on merits before us was challenged. Where is the question of now filing an LPA. We have dealt with the order on merits.”
The Counsel for the State of West Bengal- Maneka Guruswamy argued, “In the order of December 13, 2021, the court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the issue which will arise before the writ petition in the High Court.”
The Supreme Court Bench in conclusion stated, “The order of the learned single judge of the High Court of Calcutta dated 6 September 2021 in WP (…) was challenged before this court in SLP. The interim order of the single judge was upheld in the following terms by the 13 December 2021 order while disposing off the SLP- (…).”
On December 13, 2021 the Supreme Court was hearing the petition of the West Bengal Government which challenged the Order of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha which issued a stay on the criminal proceedings against the Member of Legislative Assembly from Bhartiya Janata Party- Suvendu Adhikari.
The West Bengal Government had approached the Calcutta High Court to interfere with the judgment given by the aforementioned Single Judge. In this regard even the Calcutta High Court found the plea of the Government unmaintainable, due to which the Government moved to the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s order.