The Calcutta High Court on Friday restrained the West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Department from enforcing its order directing the vacation of two floors of a Camac Street high-rise housing the office of Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, granting temporary relief to the party until the court delivers its decision next week.
Justice Krishna Rao passed the interim direction after concluding the hearing on a petition filed by the TMC challenging the Fire Department’s September 4 order. “The authorities are directed to restrain from giving any effect to the letter dated September 4, 2026,” the court directed. The judge said the order on the petition would be pronounced on September 16.
Fire department had flagged safety lapses
The dispute concerns the sixth and seventh floors of the commercial building at 9 Camac Street, which are used as Banerjee’s political office. The Fire Department had directed that the two floors be vacated after an inspection found alleged deficiencies in fire-safety arrangements and noted that the building’s Renewal of Fire Safety Certificate had expired on August 10.
The department had initially issued a show-cause notice after an inspection of the building on August 31. Among the alleged deficiencies flagged were inadequate fire-safety arrangements, storage of several LPG cylinders in the seventh-floor kitchen or cafeteria and structures that officials said did not conform to the approved plan. The authorities subsequently concluded that the affected areas were unsafe from a fire and life-safety perspective.
In separate September 4 directions, the department ordered the vacation of the basement as well as the sixth and seventh floors and said the areas should not be used until the required safety measures were put in place and a valid renewal certificate obtained.
TMC cites lease dispute
Appearing for the TMC, senior counsel Kishore Dutta told the High Court that the lessor of the sixth and seventh floors had terminated the lease on August 25. The party subsequently approached a civil court, which stayed the termination on September 2.
Dutta submitted that the Fire Services Department later served the occupants with a notice directing them to vacate the floors after finding that the fire-safety certificate had expired. The TMC challenged the legality of the subsequent evacuation direction, leading to Friday’s hearing before Justice Rao.
The premises had been leased to the Trinamool Youth Congress in 2020 for a 10-year period. The dispute over the Fire Department’s action has therefore unfolded alongside a separate legal battle concerning the lease itself.
State flags LPG cylinders, other violations
Opposing the TMC’s petition, Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra argued that several fire-safety requirements had been violated on the sixth and seventh floors. He also told the court that a number of LPG cylinders had been stored on one of the floors, raising concerns over the fire load of the premises.
The building owner’s counsel separately submitted that the lessee had established a cafeteria on one of the floors without permission. The Fire Department’s inspection had also questioned the storage of LPG cylinders in the cafeteria, which officials said was not shown in the approved plan.
The department maintained that deficiencies found during the inspection posed a risk to occupants and that continued use of the premises without the required compliance and certification could endanger life and property.
Order follows billboard controversy
The fire-safety proceedings came shortly after another confrontation at the same Camac Street building over the removal of an allegedly unauthorised political billboard. Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials had gone to the premises to remove the structure, leading to a scuffle involving private security personnel, TMC supporters and party leaders.
A joint team of Kolkata Police and Fire Department officials subsequently conducted a floor-by-floor inspection of the building, including its common areas and basement, on August 31. The fire-safety notice followed soon afterwards.
Friday’s High Court direction means the Fire Department cannot, for now, enforce the September 4 evacuation order against the two floors housing Banerjee’s office. The restraint will remain operative while the court considers the competing arguments over the legality of the directive, with its ruling scheduled for September 16.