Kolkata: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday quashed the notice of eviction served by the West Bengal Fire Services Department to the office of the Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party’s Diamond Harbour MP, Abhishek Banerjee, on Camac Street in Central Kolkata.
Previously, the Calcutta High Court had given an interim stay on the notice by the fire services department. The matter came up for hearing again on Wednesday, and at the end of the hearing, the single-judge bench of Justice Krishna Rao quashed the same notice.
The single-judge bench directed the state fire services department to first serve a notice in advance to Trinamool Congress, intimating the date of inspection of the Camac Street office.
Justice Rao ruled that the fire services department should inform the Trinamool Congress about the fire safety measures that were required to be adopted at the same office. Thereafter, according to the single-judge bench, Trinamool Congress will have to take the necessary steps for security and safety in accordance with those guidelines.
If the Trinamool would not follow those guidelines even then, the fire services department would take appropriate action as per the legal provisions, ruled Justice Rao.
The office of Abhishek Banerjee has been in the midst of controversy since last month after Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) staff and police removed an illegal billboard from the roof of the building. Trinamool workers led by Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s Rajya Sabha member, Derek O’Brien, and leaders like Humayun Kabir and Baishwanar Chatterjee got involved in scuffles with KMC staff and police personnel.
Thereafter, three FIRs were registered at the local Shakespeare Sarani Police Station, naming Abhishek Banerjee, O’Brien, Kabir and Chatterjee. At the same time, the officials from the state fire services department conducted a fire safety audit at the office and thereafter served an eviction notice.
(IANS)
