Kolkata, July 28 — A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday rejected the plea for interim protection from coercive police action, including arrest, for Sumit Roy, the absconding personal assistant of Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee.
Roy’s counsel made the plea in connection with a case of illegal land-grabbing in West Midnapore district. While rejecting the plea, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said that since the investigation was still at an interim stage, it would not be possible for the court to grant protection from coercive police action, including arrest.
Sumit Roy has been accused of land fraud in Salboni in West Midnapore district. During the hearing, his counsel Sabyasachi Banerjee argued that the police allegations against his client were baseless.
“The land mentioned is recorded in government records. The private party owns the land. They have been identified. Police are claiming that the former Trinamool legislator from the district, Sujoy Hazra, used to come to Kolkata to pay commission money. However, the police could not substantiate that allegation through any evidence. The income details of my client had been mentioned in his income tax returns,” Roy’s counsel argued.
In his counter-argument, the state’s Additional Advocate General, Rajdeep Majumdar, claimed that statements made by local persons at Salboni, including the original landowner, indicated they were forced to vacate the land under pressure.
“The police have recovered incriminating documents from the possession of Sujoy Hazra, who was arrested in the case. Land was transferred in the names of fictitious persons. Documents were made in fake names like Bishnu Roy, Paltu Roy, and Kamala Roy. But there was no one with these names. The financial transactions were in cash. A detailed investigation in the matter is on,” Majumdar said.
After hearing both sides, the single-judge bench rejected the plea for interim protection.