Ex-TMC MP moves SC against HC order banning his entry in WB's Bankura district

Former Trinamool Congress MP Saumitra Khan, who is now a BJP candidate for Lok Sabha polls, on Friday moved the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order banning him from entering Bankura district in West Bengal.

Khan is an accused in cases of allegedly taking money from students on the promise of giving them jobs.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna said his plea would be heard next week.

Senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing for Khan, said the high court order should be set aside otherwise Khan will not be able to file nomination papers and campaign in his Bishnupur constituency which falls in Bankura district.

The high court had last week extended the ban on Khan, who is contesting the election from Bishnupur parliamentary constituency on a BJP ticket, by six weeks.

The high court had said such a ban was required for a free and fair investigation of cases against Khan considering his political clout in the area.

After Khan joined the BJP, he was also named as accused in illegal sand mining cases.

On February 18, the high court had given relief to Khan by directing interim protection from arrest for four weeks in connection with cases of allegedly taking money on the promise of giving jobs but had asked him not to enter the jurisdiction of Bankura district till further orders.

In complaints lodged with Barjora police station in Bankura, three persons have alleged that Khan had taken money from them in 2018 on the promise of securing them government jobs.

The complainants have claimed that they had not been given jobs despite having paid money to the MP.

Khan had told the high court that complaints against him were false and motivated and he was a victim of "political vendetta" by the state.

He has said that criminal cases were lodged on January 10, 2019, a day after he joined the BJP after quitting the TMC, the ruling party in West Bengal.