The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim protection from arrest to five Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy, in connection with criminal cases lodged against them, reported PTI. The three other leaders granted relief are Arjun Singh, Sourav Singh and Pawan Kumar Singh.
A bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul sought replies from the West Bengal government on five separate pleas filed by the BJP leaders alleging that the criminal cases were filed to deter them from carrying out political activities. The court said the interim protection would continue till the next hearing, which is scheduled for the second week of January.
The petitioners had sought the transfer of all cases registered against them by the West Bengal Police to any other independent investigating agency, according to NDTV.
During Friday’s hearing, Arjun Singh’s counsel told the court that 64 cases were lodged against him between March 2019 and September 2020 as he quit the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP, according to Deccan Herald. The counsels for Pawan Singh, Sourav Singh and Mukul also claimed that various cases were lodged against them for leaving the TMC and joining and the BJP.
Vijayvargiya’s counsel said he did not even reside in West Bengal but the criminal cases were filed to stop him from entering the state.
Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing BJP leader Kabir Shankar Bose, told the court that his client’s life was under threat as he was attacked by his former father-in-law and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee and other party workers. He said that a scuffle had taken place between his security staff and TMC workers.
The court then directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to submit in a sealed cover a report on the alleged scuffle.
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