Stay on FIRs against Suvendu: SC declines, HC agrees to hear Bengal plea

In the Supreme Court, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the state government, said that owing to the December 8 order by a single judge of the High Court — which stayed all FIRs against Adhikari and barred police from registering more without its permission — the Bengal government was unable to file a case against him in connection with the incident.

Singhvi told the Bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha that the state had moved the Supreme Court for modification of the order as the judge, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, was not available for judicial work in Kolkata.

The top court, however, said that even if the judge was unavailable for work “by virtue of his judicial assignment at Port Blair, the petitioner has the remedy of moving the learned Chief Justice of the High Court of Calcutta for appropriate administrative directions”.
With the bench not inclined to entertain the plea, Singhvi withdrew it.

The state then verbally moved the Bench of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava, seeking permission to file a petition against the single-judge Bench’s order.

The High Court allowed the verbal prayer.

Adhikari’s lawyer had told the court of Justice Mantha that 26 FIRs were filed against the leader at the instance of the state’s ruling dispensation and that it was an orchestrated bid to prevent him from performing any function.

Justice Mantha had stayed all the FIRs referred to in the petition by Adhikari, while directing the state police to not register any more FIRs against the petitioner without the High Court’s permission.