Mamata Banerjee Appears at Calcutta High Court in Lawyer’s Robes to Argue Post-Poll Violence PIL

Kolkata (IANS): Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared at the Calcutta High Court on Thursday to argue a public interest litigation (PIL) on the post-poll violence that followed the recently concluded Assembly elections.

The division bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen heard the matter.

Advocate Sirsanya Banerjee filed the PIL. He is a Calcutta High Court lawyer and the son of senior advocate and four-time Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee. Sirsanya Banerjee had contested the recent Assembly elections from the Uttarpara constituency in Hooghly district as a Trinamool Congress candidate.

However, BJP candidate and former NSG commandant Dipanjan Chakraborty defeated him by more than 10,000 votes.

Mamata Banerjee arrived at the Calcutta High Court wearing a traditional black advocate’s coat and white collar band over her trademark white saree with blue borders to appear as counsel in the case.

Earlier this year, she had appeared in the Supreme Court during hearings related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in West Bengal. Although she briefly addressed the bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, she did not appear as counsel in that matter.

On Thursday, however, she formally argued the case before the Calcutta High Court bench.

In the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, current Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee from the Bhabanipur constituency in South Kolkata by more than 15,000 votes.

Despite the Trinamool Congress losing power and her personal defeat, Mamata Banerjee did not resign and claimed that the election results did not reflect the true public mandate.

Later, Governor R. N. Ravi dissolved the Assembly, which automatically dissolved her cabinet and ended her tenure as Chief Minister.