NEW DELHI: Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee encountered significant protest when she appeared as counsel at the Calcutta High Court on Thursday. The case in question involved a public interest litigation (PIL) related to alleged post-poll violence following the recently concluded Assembly elections in the state.
Dressed in a traditional black advocate’s jacket and a white collar-band over her signature white saree with blue borders, Banerjee appeared before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen. The PIL was filed by Sirsanya Banerjee, a lawyer at the High Court and the son of senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, who has served as a four-time Trinamool Congress MP. Sirsanya had contested the recent Assembly elections from the Uttarpara constituency in Hooghly district but was defeated by BJP candidate Dipanjan Chakraborty, a former NSG commandant, by more than 10,000 votes.
As Banerjee made her way through the court premises in her legal attire, she was met with slogans against her, reflecting the heightened political tensions following the Assembly election results, in which the Trinamool Congress lost control to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
During the hearing, Banerjee presented photographs to the bench and claimed that “even children and women are not spared” in the ongoing violence. She also submitted a list of ten individuals reportedly murdered in the post-election unrest. “My humble submission is to please protect the people of Bengal. This is not a bulldozer state,” she stated.
Banerjee further alleged that homes and offices were being looted openly, claiming that the police had failed to take action. “Everything is being done in the presence of the police,” she asserted, emphasizing that people have the right to be heard, “even if you are demolishing an unauthorized structure.” She questioned the lack of police investigations after violent incidents, saying, “There is no police.”
In response to her court appearance, the Trinamool Congress issued a statement on social media platform X, highlighting Banerjee’s dedication to the people of Bengal. They stated that she “never abandons the people of Bengal in their hour of need,” and that she “fights for truth, justice, and constitutional values with unmatched compassion, courage, and conviction.”
The party further commented on her resilience against injustices perpetuated by the BJP, asserting that “there is truly no leader like her in the country today.” Earlier this year, Banerjee had also appeared in the Supreme Court regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) case in West Bengal, where she addressed the bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, although she was not acting as counsel in that matter.
In the recent Assembly polls, Banerjee lost to the current Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari from the Bhabanipur constituency by over 15,000 votes. Following this defeat, Governor R. N. Ravi dissolved the previous Assembly, thereby ending the cabinet led by Banerjee.
