Deepali Kalia –
Calcutta High Court on June 14th declined to stay police probe in Tarpaulins theft Case in which Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal State Assembly has been named as an accused in the FIR.
The Bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh was hearing Adhikari’s plea which had sought quashing of an FIR registered by Contai police that also named his brother Soumendu. They have been accused of stealing tarpaulins from the civic body’s godown on May 29.
Adhikari’s counsel claimed that the case is politically motivated and argued that Adhikari has been falsely implicated as he has joined the rival political party and has also been appointed as the leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal State Assembly.
Former TMC Minister and heavyweight leader, Adhikari had joined BJP in December of last year.
The Court stated that it wasn’t going to pass any interim order at the present stage without perusal of the relevant materials and case diary provided by the investigation agency.
However, the Court did allow the petitioner to renew their prayer for an interim order on the next date of hearing.
The matter for consideration will again appear before the court on June 22nd.
The public prosecutor was also directed by the Court to produce the case diary on the next hearing of the case.
