The Calcutta High Court has refused to grant an urgent hearing to a petition filed by All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP Mahua Moitra seeking protection in connection with an FIR registered against her following an alleged attack during a political programme in Kaliganj, Nadia district.
The matter was mentioned before Justice Sougata Bhattacharyya on Tuesday, who refused to treat the case as urgent. The Court observed that it was already dealing with a large number of similar petitions seeking protection from coercive action and, therefore, did not find any exceptional circumstances warranting immediate listing of the matter.
Moitra’s counsel submitted that she had been served with a notice of appearance under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which empowers the investigating officer to require the attendance of a person during the course of investigation. On that basis, the petitioner sought urgent judicial intervention and protection against any coercive steps by the investigating agency. This was the second time the matter had been mentioned before Justice Bhattacharyya seeking an urgent hearing.
The petition arises out of an FIR registered after an alleged attack on Moitra during a political programme in Kaliganj. She has approached the High Court seeking appropriate directions to safeguard her rights during the investigation and to restrain the authorities from taking coercive action against her.
On the same day, another Bench of the High Court, presided over by Justice Jay Sengupta, heard a separate petition filed by former TMC MLA Sujit Bose challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
Appearing for Bose, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the legality of the ED’s power to arrest his client under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). He submitted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the predicate offence on April 21, 2023, completed its investigation and filed a chargesheet in June 2024 without naming Bose as an accused. Despite this, the ED arrested him after issuing only an initial summons.
Singhvi argued that there was no justification for the arrest nearly three years after the CBI had commenced its investigation. He submitted that if Bose had intended to tamper with evidence or influence the investigation, he could have done so long ago. He further contended that the provisions of the PMLA were not attracted against his client and that Bose had been fully cooperating with the investigating agency throughout the investigation. The Court also directed the petitioner to withdraw another petition pending before a coordinate Bench. The matter has been posted for further hearing on Thursday.
Separately, a petition filed by TMC leader Atin Ghosh is also scheduled to be taken up by the High Court on Thursday.
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