New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the newly elected government of West Bengal to “strictly maintain law and order at the grassroots level.” This order came after Mamata Banerjee informed the court that the police remained inactive during the post-poll violence, while also emphasizing that, in the context of ongoing demolition drives against illegal structures, “Bengal is not a bulldozer state.”
The court further directed the police to guarantee the safety of those who had fled their homes out of fear of retaliatory post-poll violence, and to facilitate their safe return to their properties, regardless of their political affiliations.
This writ petition was filed by Sirsanya Bandyopadhyay—a TMC candidate in the recently concluded assembly elections and the son of Kalyan Banerjee. It alleged that following the declaration of the 2026 assembly election results on May 4, large-scale violence was unleashed against party workers, and attacks were carried out on TMC offices.
This interim order was passed by a bench comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen. The bench directed the State to file its affidavit-in-opposition within three weeks and granted an additional two weeks for a rejoinder, while keeping open the question regarding the maintainability of the TMC’s Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
Assisting the petitioner’s counsel, Kalyan Banerjee—and clad in his lawyer’s robes—Banerjee informed the court that at least 10 people had been killed in the aftermath of the elections, approximately 150–160 TMC offices were vandalized, and around 2,000 incidents of violence were reported.
He alleged that FIRs were not being registered and claimed that women, children, and minorities were being specifically targeted. “Of the ten deceased, six are Hindus. They are preventing the registration of an FIR.”
Arguing that perpetrators are taking the law into their own hands, he stated that even those accused of unauthorized construction have the right to present their side before any demolition takes place. Questioning the police’s inaction, he asked, “Even if you are demolishing an unauthorized structure, people have the right to have their say. Criminals are taking the law into their own hands. The police must prevent crime.”