Calcutta High Court today imposed some riders before clearing the deck for the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari to meet the Governor CV Ananda Bose at the Kolkata Raj Bhavan along with victims of post-poll violence. Justice Amrita Sinha, of Calcutta High Court set some dos and don’ts for the leader of the Opposition to adhere to to resolve the alleged stand-off between Mr Adhikari and the city police, who the leader of the Opposition alleged denied him entry to Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor on the pretext of Section 144 of the IPC despite had an invitation for a meeting with Mr Bose.
In a ruling today, Justice Sinha cleared Mr Adhikari’s entry to RaJ Bhavan to meet the Governor with victims of post-poll violence, but placed some riders for the leader of the Opposition, saying he first would have to seek Governor’s appointment afresh and then should it be granted, he would be free to meet the Governor along with the victims of post-poll violence. But before that he would have inform police in advance how many people would accompany him to meet the Governor and how many vehicles would be there.
Justice Sinha, during the hearing today, made a sharp observation on the alleged role of police in trying to deny Mr Adhikari entry into the Raj Bhavan by asking whether the Governor was put under House arrest. In response, the state government’s counsel pleaded that the police merely had asked Mr Adhikari’s personal assistant to inform them on whether any victim of post-poll violence would accompany them and if so, how many. Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Friday evening issued a statement demanding the immediate replacement of Kolkata Police personnel posted on duty at the Raj Bhavan after Mr Adhikari was denied entry to meet him