Calcutta HC withdraws protection to Suvendu Adhikari from future FIRs without court permission

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the transfer of investigation in four cases registered against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari to a joint special investigation team (SIT) comprising the CBI and the state police. A protection granted to Adhikari earlier by the high court in 2022 from registration of any FIR against him without the permission of this court was lifted by Justice Jay Sengupta, passing judgment in three cases between the BJP leader and the state of West Bengal. Justice Sengupta also ordered the quashing of FIRs registered against the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly in 15 cases across the state at different times. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha had in December, 2022 granted protection to the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, directing the state police not to register any more FIRs against him without the high court's permission. Adhikari had claimed before the court that several FIRs had been registered against him in different police stations of the state to prevent him from performing his function as a people's representative at the instance of the ruling dispensation in the state.