TMC Moves Calcutta High Court Over Billboard Removal At Abhishek Banerjee’s Office

The Trinamool Congress faction led by former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday approached a special single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court over the removal of an illegal billboard from the roof of party MP Abhishek Banerjee’s office on Camac Street in central Kolkata.

Trinamool Congress counsel Kishore Dutta, former advocate general of West Bengal, brought the matter before the bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury, who permitted the party to file a case.

A decision on the party’s request for an urgent hearing on Friday, however, remains pending.

The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that Kolkata Municipal Corporation staff reached the Camac Street office at around 4:45 PM on Thursday and began dismantling the billboard.

Dutta told the court that the office of Calcutta High Court Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakrabarty had received information about the matter on Thursday.

The Acting Chief Justice subsequently asked the petitioner to approach Justice Basu Chowdhury’s single-judge bench.

The Trinamool counsel then sought an immediate hearing. Justice Chowdhury directed the party to first register the case and approach his bench with the case number, observing that the matter could not be heard without it.

The judge said he would hear the matter on Friday once the party provided the case number and directed the petitioner to inform the other parties, including the KMC and Kolkata Police.

Case Background

Tension broke out on Camac Street on Thursday after KMC officials, accompanied by Kolkata Police personnel, arrived at Abhishek Banerjee’s office to remove the illegal billboard.

Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress’ Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha member and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, had earlier said he would approach the Calcutta High Court over the matter.

KMC officials eventually removed the billboard after two rounds of scuffles between police personnel and Trinamool Congress activists at the site.

The legal move comes a day after the confrontation, with the party now seeking judicial intervention in the dispute over the billboard’s removal.

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