Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari. File | Photo credit: PTI
In a setback for West Bengal Assembly Leader of Opposition Suvenda Adhikari, the Calcutta High Court on Friday (October 24, 2025) quashed the protection granted to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader against the registration of an FIR against him.
While ordering the quashing of 15 FIRs against Mr. Adhikari, Justice Jay Sengupta revoked the protection granted by the Supreme Court to the Leader of the Opposition in 2022 against the registration of an FIR against him. According to an earlier order of Justice Rajasekhar Manth in December 2022, permission of the Calcutta High Court was required before filing an FIR against the Nandigram MLA.
Transfer cases
In Friday’s (October 24) order, Justice Sengupta also ordered the handover of investigations in four cases registered against BJP leaders to a joint Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the state police.
The development, which comes ahead of the assembly polls in the state, has drawn strong political reactions and the Trinamool Congress has lauded the development. Trinamool Congress president Kunal Ghosh said the development reflected the party’s stand that no person could be given protection against registration of an FIR against them indefinitely.
Several Trinamool Congress leaders expressed their displeasure over the protection granted to Mr Adhikari. The state government challenged the Calcutta High Court order in the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court did not intervene in the decision of the High Court in this regard. Reacting to the development, Mr Adhikari said it was his “personal legal battle” and welcomed the order as FIRs were quashed in 15 cases against him.
“No Security Blanket”
“In the case of the other four (FIRs), SITs were set up and the court did not depend on the state police and brought the CBI on board,” he said. The BJP leader said that no “blanket of protection” was given to him and that there is an interim order and such orders are withdrawn once the final verdicts are delivered. Mr. Adhikari said he was being targeted by the entire Trinamool leadership and would go to court if there was any further harassment.
With court protection lifted against Mr Adhikari, Trinamool Congress sources said the state police would press for action against the BJP leader. Police are likely to crack down on Mr Adhikari in the allegation leveled by state minister Birbaha Hansda, a tribal leader. Ms. Hansda alleged that the LoP insulted her by referring to her caste.
Published – 24 Oct 2025 20:33 IST
