'False cases against BJP leaders' in Bengal: SC seeks Mamata govt's reply (Ld)

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) Arjun Singh, who had jumped ship from the Trinamool Congress to the BJP and is currently an MP for the saffron party from West Bengal, is facing the political wrath of the state government, which has allegedly foisted 64 cases against him in a period of 18 months after his exit in March 2019.Singh, along with other BJP leaders - Kailash Vijayvargiya, Pawan Singh, Mukul Roy, Saurav Singh and Kabir Bose - on Friday detailed the alleged political vendetta unleashed by the state machinery before the Supreme Court.Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Singh, contended before a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy that since his client changed political allegiance, he has been saddled with number of criminal prosecutions. He told the top court that 11 to 12 cases have been instituted against him in one month and most of the allegations are improbable.Singh has urged the top court to transfer all the cases to the CBI. Singh, in his plea, contended that the state government with a view to vent its political vendetta has initiated false and frivolous cases against political leaders whose ideologies are different from it.Vijayvargiya's counsel told the top court that his client did not even live in West Bengal, yet cases have been filed against him with the sole purpose of stopping his visits to the state in the backdrop of the impending Assembly elections early next year. Rohatgi insisted that these cases were foisted on his client to stop him from conducting political work for the elections slated in February or March next year. The top court granted protection from arrest to five BJP leaders - Singh, Vijayvargiya, Roy, Saurav Singh and Pawan Singh - but separately dealt with the case of Kabir Bose, the BJP spokesperson who was with the Trinamool before."Issue notice...no coercive steps till next date of hearing," said the top court on the pleas of BJP leaders except Bose.Bose claimed that he was protected by CISF's Special Security Group (SSG) and urged before the top court that the report should be submitted by the CISF SSG to the Ministry of Home Affairs.The bench directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to submit in a sealed cover a report regarding the alleged scuffle between Trinamool workers and the security staff of Bose, who in his plea cited an incident where he was arrested as an accused in an attempt to murder case. The bench will conduct further hearing in the matter in January.
--IANS ss/arm