Calcutta HC imposes fine of Rs 5 lakh on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

The Calcutta High Court's single bench led by Justice Kausik Chanda passed the order while hearing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's election petition.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for putting the judiciary in a bad light.

The Calcutta High Court’s single bench led by Justice Kausik Chanda passed the order while hearing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s election petition challenging BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s victory from the Nandigram Constituency in the recently held state assembly polls.

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At the outset of the argument, Justice Chanda refused to withdraw the case but later changed his decision to say that he was recused from the case.

West Bengal Chief Minister has also moved an application to change the judge in the case and alleged that Justice Chanda has connections with BJP.

The Election Commission had declared BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari the winner in the fiercely contested election for the Nandigram constituency.

After her defeat in Nandigram, Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Returning Officer of the Assembly seat had said he was threatened against recounting of votes.

Despite Banerjee losing the seat to Adhikari, who was once her close aide, the TMC registered a landslide victory in polls winning 213 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly. While the BJP lost the polls but emerged as the second-largest party with 77 seats.

The TMC even wrote to the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal seeking “immediate re-counting of votes and postal ballots” in the Nandigram constituency, but recounting was refused for reasons unknown.

“Such refusal is bad in law… We demand an immediate recounting of Nandigram AC 210 to preserve the sanctity of the electoral process,” the TMC had said in a letter to the CEO.

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