The Calcutta High Court on Sunday directed the West Bengal government to stop further demolition of a building where Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has his office in the Amtala town of South 24 Parganas, Bar and Bench reported.
The stay will remain in place until the matter is heard next or till the end of July, whichever is earlier, said Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury.
District authorities had reportedly ordered the building to be demolished on the grounds that it had been constructed in violation of municipal laws.
On Saturday, parts of the building were demolished by the district administration, reported the Hindustan Times.
Following this, Leaps and Bounds Private Limited, the company that owns the building and of which Banerjee’s father is a director, moved the High Court seeking an urgent hearing.
Appearing for the company on Sunday, lawyer Kishore Datta told the court that the complaint, on the basis of which the demolition was ordered, was never given to the petitioner.
Representing the state government, Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra, said that the petitioner had failed to establish that the construction was authorised, reported Bar and Bench.
He said that the demolition followed a notice dated June 30, which had been served on the petitioner.
However, the court noted that the building’s owners may not have been given adequate opportunity to respond before the demolition was ordered.
Based on the material currently on record, there was nothing to indicate that the petitioner had been furnished with the complaint or the hearing officer’s recommendation for demolishing the building, said the bench, restraining the authorities from further action.
Edited by Sneha.
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