Bhabanipur Election Petition: High Court Orders Preservation of CCTV Footage and Voting Records

PTI, June 23, 2026, Kolkata:  Calcutta High Court judge Gaurang Kant, while hearing Mamata Banerjee's plea challenging the Bhabanipur Assembly seat poll result, on Tuesday told the TMC supremo's lawyer that his elder brother is a BJP spokesperson and he would hear the matter after full disclosure.

After the preliminary hearing of Mamata's petition, Justice Kant ordered the preservation of the May 4 CCTV footage of the counting hall, EVMs and VVPAT machines of all polling stations in the constituency.

At the outset, the judge told the former Chief Minister's lawyer, Kalyan Banerjee, that he wanted to "make it very clear" that his "elder brother is a national spokesperson for the BJP".

Stating that this might be of some concern as far as the petition is concerned, Justice Kant said he would hear the election petition "after full disclosure so that you don't have any issues later on."

Banerjee, himself a Lok Sabha MP, told the court that he has all "confidence and regard" for the judge.

"My confidence and respect for you as a judge is not determined by any other factor," the counsel said.

"I have confidence in the judiciary, and I believe that the Indian judiciary can be independent only when a judge is independent," the senior advocate said.

Banerjee said that Justice Kant is one of the gentlemanly and erudite judges of the high court and feels that no one is a factor to him, whether a relative or not.

"(It) doesn't matter to us, we are here to dispense justice," Justice Kant said.