Calcutta HC again permits Bengal LoP to enter Sandeshkhali

Kolkata, Feb 20 (IANS) Decks were cleared for the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in West Bengal Assembly to enter trouble-hit Sandeshkhali District on Tuesday afternoon, as the Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench of Chief Justice, TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya gave conditional approval to Suvendu Adhikari to enter the area.

After being stopped at Dhamakhali ferry jetty, a principal entry point to Sandeshkhali, the LoP kept waiting there even as his counsel in Kolkata approached the court yet again for permission to visit the area.

After a brief hearing in the matter, the court allowed the LoP and BJP legislator Shankar Ghosh to enter Sandeshkhali.

However, the Division Bench made it clear that no third person including the associates of the LoP would be allowed to enter the troubled zones.

The court also observed that it would be the responsibility of the police to ensure that there is no breach of law and order during the Adhikari and Ghosh’s visit.

Legal experts say that the order was true to the spirit of law where Section 144 only bars assembly of five or more people where prohibitory orders are enforced.

As per latest information police removed the barricade at Dhamakhali ferry jetty and Adhikari and Ghosh have started for Sandeshkhali through the waterways, accompanied by a huge police contingent.

Although on Monday, the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge Bench of Justice Kausik Chanda permitted the LoP to reach those points in Sandeshkhali where Section 144 had been withdrawn, the District Administration on Tuesday morning issued fresh prohibitory orders under Section 144 at 12 new places there, including the five ferry jetties which are entry points to the district, which is basically a conglomeration of islands.

–IANS

src/rad

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