Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court on Thursday released all 29 cases moved by leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, seeking the quashing of proceedings of several criminal cases lodged against him by the state government at several police stations in Bengal.
Justice Mantha took the decision to release all the cases related to Adhikari from his court after the Supreme Court asked him to dispose of the cases at the earliest.
In the order issued on December 8 last year, Justice Mantha restrained the state from taking any coercive measure against Adhikari in connection with those cases. The judge had also asked the state not to lodge any criminal case against Adhikari without prior court permission.
After delivering the interim order, Justice Mantha kept the matters pending for final disposal. As a result, the state failed to lodge an FIR against Adhikari when three persons died in a stampede during a blanket distribution event in Asansol, where the BJP leader was the chief guest on December 14 last year.
Challenging Justice Mantha’s interim order, the state moved an appeal before the Supreme Court seeking an order to ask the high court judge to dispose of the matters related to Adhikari immediately.
Following the state’s appeal, last Friday the apex court asked Justice Mantha to dispose of all 29 cases filed by Adhikari at the earliest.
Releasing the 29 cases, Justice Mantha said his court did not have the time to dispose of these cases quickly as they needed a prolonged hearing.
Expressing surprise that the directive was issued to him, Justice Mantha said: “There are 50 judges in the Court. Any of the honourable judges could be asked to hear the matters and dispose of quickly.”
Since Justice Mantha did not vacate the interim orders he issued in these 29 cases, the interim order prevails and the state can’t implicate Adhikari in a fresh case or take him in custody. It can only happen if the judge assigned these cases vacates Justice Mantha’s interim order.