BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has claimed that a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, during his recent visit to Delhi, met senior advocates, who representing “main accused” of the big scam.
Though he did not reveal the name of the accused, speculations are rife that the man is Vinay Mishra, the main accused in the cross-border cattle smuggling case and illegal coal mining in West Bengal.
On December 19, 2020, Mishra renounced his Indian citizenship and allegedly took the citizenship of Vanuatu (a South Pacific Ocean nation) while his brother Vikas Mishra was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March, 2021.
Seeking immediate clarification in the matter, Suvendu Adhikari tweeted, “Concerned that a sitting Judge of the High Court of Calcutta, senior to the main accused in the major scam pending before HC (High Court) on a visit to Delhi Met with lawyer. There is no compromise on the independence of the judiciary if democracy is to survive.”
His tweet came after the TMC alleged that he had met Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in New Delhi on July 1. Then, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh questioned how the officer involved in the Narada case was being entertained by Mehta, appearing for the CBI. If.
Responding to Suvendu’s tweet, TMC MLA Tapas Roy said, “First he should clarify why he had gone to meet Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. He is also an accused in one of the cases. Why did they both meet? “.
Hours after Ghosh’s allegation, both Suvendu and Mehta denied meeting each other.
A statement issued by the (then) Solicitor General of India said, “Mr Suvendu Adhikari came to my residence cum office unannounced yesterday at around 3:00 pm. Since I was already in my chamber for a pre-scheduled meeting. My staff requested him to sit in the waiting room of my office building and offered him a cup of tea. When my meeting was over and after that my PPS informed me of his arrival. I requested my PPS that he should tell Mr. Adhikari about his inability to meet him and apologize as he had to wait. Mr. Adhikari thanked my pps and left without insisting on meeting me. So there was no question of my meeting with the officer. Get up
However, Tapas Roy said, the CCTV footage from Mehta’s house needs to be checked to ascertain the truth. “Our All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee has asked for CCTV footage from Tushar Mehta’s house – the day Suvendu had come to his house. But so far we have not seen any CCTV footage.”
On 18 June, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s lawyer wrote to the Chief Justice’s secretary requesting that the trial of the ‘Nandigram recalculation case’, which is currently in a single bench of Justice Kaushik Chanda, be transferred to another bench. Justice Chanda was an active BJP member to avoid any bias.
On 7 July, Justice Chanda recused himself from the hearing and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Banerjee, in the manner in which the application for his removal was moved.