Murtuj Alam And ORS v. The Secretary Of West Bengal Election Commission And ORS
IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side W.P.A. 21791 of 2023 Murtuj Alam & Ors.
VS The Secretary of West Bengal Election Commission & Ors.
Mr. Sabyasachi Chatterjee Mr. Sandipan Dan Mr. Q. Faruk Gaji Mr. Badrul Karim Mr. Kiron Sk.
Mr. Dipankar Das Ms. Indrani Roy Ms. Priyanka Paul Ms. Anindita Chatterjee ..... for the petitioners Mr. Sk. Md. Galib Mr. Tamal Taru Panda .... For the State Mr. Anuran Samanta .... For respondent No. 3 Ms. Sonal Sinha Mr. Tarun Kumar Chatterjee Mr. Sujit Gupta Mr. Sayan Datta Mr. Soumen Chatterjee .... For State Election Commission This is an application under Article 226 of the Court No. 14 06.9.2023 (Item No. 5) (AB) Constitution of India praying for direction upon respondent authorities to provide police protection so that the petitioners can attend the meeting of different Upa Samities of Boroi Gram Panchayat to be held on 08.09.2023 at 12 noon at the Meeting Hall of Boroi Gram Panchayat and not to take coercive steps in respect of Harishchandrapur Police Station Case No. 831 dated 09.08.2023.
Affidavit of service filed by the petitioners is taken on record.
Learned advocate for the petitioners submits as follows. The petitioners are the wining candidates in the gram panchayat elections. The petitioner No. 2 is the Gram Panchayat Pradhan of Boroi Gram Panchayat, the petitioner No. 10 is the Upa Pradhan of the said Gram Panchayat and the others are elected members of the Gram Panchayat. They belong to an opposition political party. The miscreants belonging to the ruling political dispensation had been trying to prevent the petitioners from attending the meetings. The Administration has also filed an F.I.R. regarding untoward incidents that took place sometime ago. The Administration might try to prevent the petitioners from attending the meeting on the basis of such F.I.R. The learned counsel for the State submits as follows. The allegations made in the writ petition are denied. However, if the petitioners for some reason, fear that they might not be able to attend the meeting, then they can report to the local police station for necessary protection.
In view of the above, let the petitioners report to the Officer-in-Charge of Harishchandrapur Police Station on 08.09.2023 at 10 a.m. so that the officer can arrange for necessary police protection to escort them to the venue of the meeting.
In order that the petitioners can exercise their democratic rights at the meeting that is to take place on 08.09.2023, the investigating agency shall not arrest the petitioners in respect of Harishchandrapur Police State case No. 831 dated 09.08.2023 till 09.9.2023.
The police shall keep a sharp vigil at the locale and ensure that no breach of peace takes place. As affidavits were not called for, the allegations made are deemed not to have been admitted.
With the aforesaid observations, the writ petition is disposed of.
Urgent certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance of all requisite formalities.
The petitioners shall be at liberty to communicate a gist of this order to the concerned authorities.
(Jay Sengupta, J.)