Suvendu Adhikari moves SC, seeks transfer of Mamata’s plea against poll win out of Bengal

Meanwhile, TMC has expressed concerns over the “delay” in holding by-elections to seven assembly seats, which are crucial for Mamata Banerjee continuing as the chief minister.

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari, moved the Supreme Court Wednesday, seeking the transfer of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s petition challenging his Assembly election win out of the state.

This comes after the Calcutta High Court admitted Banerjee’s petition and served notice to the Nandigram MLA along with the other parties concerned. Justice Shampa Sarkar also directed the Election Commission to preserve all records and devices related to the polls in Nandigram.

The court will hear the chief minister’s petition on August 12.

According to a report by the Bar and Bench, Adhikari has cited the observations made by Justice Chanda — who had earlier recused himself from hearing the TMC supremo’s petition — in his July 7 order regarding the attack on judiciary in the state. In his order, Justice Chanda had said he was recusing to prevent “trouble-mongers” from creating “newer controversies”. He also imposed a cost of Rs 5 lakh on Banerjee for “calculated psychological offensives and vilification adopted to seek recusal”.

In a June 24 hearing with Justice Chanda, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, counsel for Banerjee, had provided reasons for the petitioner’s apprehension of bias, and submitted that Justice Chanda has been “closely associated with BJP”, had been the head of the legal cell of the party, and had appeared for the BJP as a lawyer in various cases.

Banerjee was defeated by Adhikari in the recent Assembly polls by 1,956 votes in Nandigram. On May 21, she filed a petition with the High Court for re-evaluating the result.

Meanwhile, TMC has expressed concerns over the “delay” in holding by-elections to seven assembly seats, which are crucial for Mamata Banerjee continuing as the chief minister. A party delegation will meet the Election Commission on July 15 to press for it.

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