Kolkata, April 20 -- A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Calcutta High Court alleging a covert plan to arrest political workers-most of whom are claimed to be associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress-ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections.
The petition, moved by advocate Md. Danish Farooqui seeks urgent judicial intervention, terming the proposed action arbitrary and unconstitutional. Senior advocate and Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee is appearing in the matter.
The plea was taken up by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, which admitted the petition. The matter is likely to be heard on April 22, a day before the first phase of polling on April 23.
According to the petition, the Election Commission of India allegedly prepared a confidential list of individuals described as "trouble makers" following the announcement of the election schedule.
The plea claims that this list has been circulated among General and Police Observers deployed for election duty, along with instructions to identify and detain those named prior to polling. The petitioner states that the list is "voluminous" and includes names from several districts across West Bengal.
It further claims that almost all individuals named in the list are associated with the Trinamool Congress, including members, workers, office-bearers and elected representatives.
It is alleged that no specific criminal cases or legal grounds have been disclosed against those named. The petition argues that such pre-emptive arrests would violate fundamental rights, particularly the right to personal liberty under Article 21 and equality under Article 14.
The petitioner has sought interim protection against any coercive action, warning that such measures could undermine the fairness of the electoral process.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.