The
Supreme Court on Friday set aside an order of the Calcutta High Court which had
said that the West Bengal Police can register an FIR against BJP leader Suvendu
Adhikari, if they are satisfied that offence was made out, on a complaint accusing
him of promoting enmity between different groups.
A
bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud observed that it would have been
appropriate for the high court to grant an opportunity to Adhikari to file a
counter affidavit in the matter before issuing the interim direction in its
July 20 order.
"We
request the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to hear afresh and to
facilitate that, the order of July 20 shall stand set aside," the bench,
also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.
The
top court passed the order on an appeal filed by Adhikari challenging the July
20 order passed by a division bench of the high court.
Earlier,
a single judge of the high court, in its orders passed in September 2021 and
December 2022, said no FIR shall be registered and no coercive steps can be
taken against Adhikari, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal
Assembly.
On
July 20, a division bench of the high court had dealt with a plea which alleged
that Adhikari has committed an offence under section 153-A (promoting enmity
between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth,
residence, language, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of
the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In
its order, the division bench said the petition be treated as a complaint to
the police authority and the state police shall exercise powers in accordance
with the law and carefully examine whether the acts narrated in it disclose any
offence under section 153-A of the IPC.
"If
they are so satisfied they will register the first information report under
section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code," the high court had said.