SC bars Bengal govt from taking coercive action against BJP leaders

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday restrained the West Bengal government from taking any coercive action against BJP leaders from the state who had petitioned the court for relief from alleged political vendetta unleashed against them by the ruling dispensation ahead of the assembly polls.

A three-judge bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul passed the restraint order while issuing notices to the state government on the plea. The BJP leaders — Arjun Singh, Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Pawan Singh and Kabir Bose — had sought a stay on proceedings against them and transfer of the probe into their cases to an independent investigating agency. Their leaders argued that they would not be able to campaign in the state ahead of elections for fear of arrest.

The bench also sought a report in Kabir Bose’s case from the agencies in charge of his security. Bose claimed that he was targeted after he became BJP’s spokesperson. He alleged that he was being threatened and intimidated by the state apparatus because of personal reasons as well.


Bose was earlier married to the daughter of a minister in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, Kalyan Bandhopadhyay.

Lead counsel for the leaders, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, alleged that the ruling dispensation in the state had foisted innumerable false cases against them in the run up to the elections to deter them from campaigning in the state.