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Supreme Court Issues Notice To West Bengal Government, Says No Coercive Action Against BJP Leaders Till Next Hearing
The Supreme Court has issued notice to the West Bengal government on a petition filed by several state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders alleging that false cases were being foisted against them.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, also ordered that no coercive action should be taken in the cases till the next date of hearing in January 2021.
The bench also called for the Special Incident Report by CISF and listed the matter for further hearing in January 2021.
The bench was hearing pleas filed by BJP MPs Kailash Vijayvargiya, Arjun Singh and others alleging the foisting of false cases against them. Singh claimed that since he left TMC, 64 cases have been foisted on him.
During the hearing, senior lawyer and former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Arjun Singh, pleaded to the apex court for no coercive action against his client.
The pleas claimed that the West Bengal Police have filed dozens of “false FIRs” against BJP leaders in the run-up to the upcoming Legislative Assembly Elections next year. The pleas also called for the transfer of the investigation from the West Bengal Police to any other independent investigating agency.
The bench asked Rohatgi, “you say there are 64 cases filed. What’s is the time period when they were filed?” Rohatgi replied that all cases are of 2019. “Many cases have been filed after I left TMC and joined BJP,” he submitted.