Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Centre and Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal moved to the Supreme Court on Monday where four cases could provide the central government ammunition to corner Mamata Banerjee's administration.
The battleground for the pitched political battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Centre and Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal moved to the Supreme Court on Monday where four cases could provide the central government ammunition to corner Mamata Banerjee's administration .
The first confrontation came about in a PIL that challenged the validity of the West Bengal Housing Industry (Regulation) Act, enacted by the TMC government in 2017. This was followed by a plea in the Saradha chit fund scam, then a petition by the state BJP unit on holding of public meetings and finally a plea by BJP leader and former cop Bharati Ghosh, accusing state police of hounding her by filing false cases.
In the first case, the PIL by Forum for People's Collective Efforts challenged the housing law of operating in a field already occupied by the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act of 2016 enacted by Parliament. Documents with the petitioner — obtained under Right to Information Act — disclosed that while giving consent, the WB governor was kept in the dark about the Central law despite a query raised to the state government. A bench of Justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer sought response of the WB government and Centre in two weeks.
The Saradha chit fund scam was the next politically explosive case.
The investors in Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund companies approached the Court seeking a court-monitored probe. The investors alleged that both Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have so far failed to present a "holistic picture" of the scam. The court, however, found no reason to monitor the probe, thus giving CBI and ED much-needed relief.
The BJP unit of West Bengal was next in line to launch an offensive against the state government for being denied use of loudspeakers in residential areas and near educational institutions, claiming it to be a violation of its right to hold rallies. The bench headed by CJI Gogoi pointed out that the order is from 2013 and moreover, "This is the time when children are writing their school examinations." The BJP unit withdrew its petition.
The final point of conflict came by way of a petition filed by former Bengal cop IPS Bharati Ghosh — once considered close to Mamata Banerjee and recent BJP entrant. She sought protection from arrest in several criminal cases of corruption lodged against her. Her counsel begged for stay of arrest which the Court refused, posting her matter for hearing next week.
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