Calcutta HC hauls up BJP for petition against Mamata nephew

In an embarrassment for the BJP in West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking action against Trinamool Congress MP and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee and imposed a fine of Rs.10 lakh on the petitioner.

Alleging police inaction, the state BJP through its office secretary A.K. Guha Roy had approached the bench of Justice Dipankar Datta seeking legal action against Abhishek.

The petitioner had pleaded for a probe by an independent agency and legal action against Abhishek, who, while addressing a party meet in June, had threatened to "gouge out eyes and chop off hands" raised against the people of the state.

While the petition alleged that the city police did not register a complaint filed by the BJP against Abhishek, documents by the state government proved the contrary.

Dismissing the petition, the court indicted the BJP for "attempting to mislead the court".

"Courts are not the place for settling political scores... the petitioner ought to suffer exemplary costs," Justice Datta said in the order.

Justice Datta directed the petitioner to pay Rs.5 lakh each to the High Court Legal Aid and West Bengal Legal Aid Services.

"This is to remind that however strong and mighty it is in the political scene, it (petitioner) must respect the laws of the country while seeking to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of the court and not suppress facts or produce a tampered document to suit its end," the judge said.

"To err is human, but it has to be remembered that this is not a writ petition of a stranger or a busybody attempting to get cheap publicity rather at the instance of a political party which is part of the ruling dispensation at the Centre," said the court directing the petitioner to deposit the fine within a month.