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SC declines Suvendu Adhikari's plea to transfer poll petition

SC declines Suvendu Adhikaris plea to transfer poll petition
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Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to consider a plea filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari in which he sought the transfer of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's petition, challenging his election from Nandigram constituency, outside the state.

"We will not allow this choice of high courts. The high court which has jurisdiction, should try the matter there," a bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said.

The bench also said if it were to transfer the petition, it would indicate that the top court is not having faith in the Calcutta High Court.

"If we transfer, we would be expressing a view of lack of faith in the entire high court," the bench further said. In the 2021 Assembly election, Adhikari had defeated Mamata Banerjee by 1,956 votes. In June 2021, Banerjee moved an election petition before the high court seeking a direction to Adhikari's election from Nandigram be declared null and illegal. Adhikari sought transfer of the petition to some other High Court outside the Calcutta High Court. Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Adhikari, submitted that the atmosphere over there was not congenial for the hearing of the election petition. He said that the CM wrote a letter stating that because she had opposed a particular judge's appointment, then he should recuse from hearing a connected matter.

The bench, however, said the Chief Justice and the high court judges have enough powers to ensure that congenial atmosphere is maintained during the trial in the election petition. "Their shoulders are broad enough to deal with it," the bench said. It added that this could not form the basis for it to transfer the case.

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