Calcutta HC gives Suvendu Adhikari till October 1 to reply to Mamata’s poll petition

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari further time until October 1 to file his written statement in an election petition filed by his predecessor Mamata Banerjee challenging his victory from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency.

Justice Gaurang Kanth allowed Adhikari’s application seeking additional time after his counsel submitted that conferences with his representatives had contributed to the delay. The court said sufficient reasons had been shown for the written statement not being filed within the period granted earlier and directed the department concerned to receive it by October 1.

Bhabanipur result challenged

Adhikari, who was declared the winner from Bhabanipur by more than 15,000 votes, had his election challenged by Banerjee in June. In her petition, Banerjee alleged corrupt practices, illegal deletion of voters from the electoral roll and irregularities in the counting process.

The allegations form part of the pending election petition and have not yet been adjudicated by the court.

Deadline extended

Adhikari’s counsel told the court that a copy of the election petition was received on July 3. After the initial period for filing the written statement expired in the first week of August, Justice Kanth had on August 4 granted another four weeks to submit it.

That period expired on September 1 without the written statement being filed. Adhikari subsequently moved an application seeking three days’ additional time.

His counsel submitted that the delay occurred because conferences were required to be held with the Chief Minister’s representatives. The court said it was satisfied that sufficient reasons had been shown for the delay and extended the deadline until October 1.

Evidence preserved

The High Court had on June 23 directed the Election Commission to preserve and keep in safe custody the CCTV footage from the counting centre at Sakhawat Memorial School in Bhabanipur.

The court also ordered the preservation of the EVMs and VVPAT machines used during polling in the constituency. Justice Kanth directed that the material should not be erased, overwritten, destroyed, tampered with, transferred, redeployed, opened or otherwise dealt with without the court’s permission.

The election petition will proceed further after Adhikari files his written statement.