Supreme Court Stops Bengal Police From Taking Coercive Action Against 5 BJP Leaders On Criminal Cases Registered Against Them

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices on petitions filed by five BJP leaders Arjun Singh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Pawan Singh, Sourav Singh and Mukul Roy seeking investigation by an independent agency in the criminal cases registered against them by the West Bengal police.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul also ordered that no coercive action should be taken against the petitioners on the criminal cases till the next date of hearing.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Arjun Singh, MP from Barrackpore constituency, submitted that the criminal cases were "falsely foisted" on his client after he left the Trinamool Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Advocate  Prashant Kumar, appearing for Kailash Vijayvargia, submitted that cases for minor offences have been registered so that he will not be able to travel in the state ahead of the assembly polls scheduled next year.  

Other petitioners also argued that the cases against them were "politically motivated".

The bench also considered another petition filed by Kabir Shankar Bose, who alleged that he was assaulted and attacked while travelling in Bengal.

Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Bose, submitted that his client was attacked despite having a protection by CISF(SSG).

"I am a person with CISF(SSG) protection which is granted only after IB inputs of threat. I have been attacked and assaulted. I was attacked in the face of CISF(SSG) protection" Jethmalani submitted.

After the attack, the Bengal police slapped a criminal case against Bose, he added. He urged the bench to call for the report filed by the CISF(SSG) with respect to the incident and to protect him from coercive action by the police on the case.

The bench, also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy, directed the CISF(SSG) to place before the court the special incident report in a sealed cover.

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