Bengal Assembly Elections 2021: EC asked to keep all Nandigram poll documents

Justice Shampa Sarkar issues the directive after accepting Mamata’s petition contesting the poll of Adhikari, who defeated the CM by 1,965 votes

Calcutta High Court: File picture

TT  Bureau   |   Calcutta, New Delhi   |  15.07.21: Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission of India to preserve all documents, devices and video recordings  related to the Nandigram Assembly poll till the disposal of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s petition challenging BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s victory.

Justice Shampa Sarkar issued the directive after accepting Mamata’s petition contesting the election of Adhikari, who had defeated the chief minister by 1,965 votes in Nandigram.

Justice Sarkar also made Adhikari a party to the case and sent him a notice while fixing August 12 as the next date for hearing.

Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal had initially assigned the case to Justice Kaushik Chanda but Mamata sought the transfer of the hearing to another bench fearing that she might not get fair judgment from him. The chief minister raised objections to her petition coming up before Justice Chanda because of his association with the BJP since his days as a lawyer.

Last week, Justice Chanda released the case on personal grounds but imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on Mamata for her “offensive attempt to seek recusal”.

Later on Wednesday, sources said Adhikari had moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the election petition filed by Mamata to any high court outside Bengal.

Although the legal team of Adhikari refrained from sharing the contents of the petition with the media, it is learnt he had referred to the July 7 recusal of Justice Chanda as one of the main grounds for transfer of case outside Bengal.

The source said Adhikari had in his petition relied on certain observations made by Justice Chanda who had referred to pressure mounted on him leading to his recusal.

However, technically, the petition filed by Adhikari has to first clear the decks at the Supreme Court registry that scrutinises it before placing the matter before the Chief Justice of India for listing it before an appropriate bench.