Kolkata, July 19 (IANS) Despite being a holiday, an urgent hearing has been scheduled on Sunday afternoon at a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on the petition filed by the Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, challenging the demolition of his party office at Amtala in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district.

The demolition started on Saturday and continued on Sunday morning.

The matter will be heard at a special bench of Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury in the second half of Sunday. In fact, on Saturday, Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of the former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, told media persons that he has sent an email to the OSD of the Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice attaching all the videos of the demolition and pleaded for an urgent hearing in the matter.

He also said that if necessary, he will go up to the level of the Supreme Court in the matter.

The demolition of the five-storey party office started on Saturday afternoon. The South 24 Parganas district administration claimed that the two subsequent notices, first on June 30 and subsequently on July 7, seeking clarification on the alleged illegal constructions, failed to evoke a response and thereafter the administration decided to demolish the illegal construction.

The district administration has also claimed that the building was constructed without a proper building sanction plan. According to it, the respondent to the notice was supposed to appear at the district administration office on July 15 and give clarifications on the matter, which they failed to do.

The local people, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers, alleged that the office was a hub where the most notorious “criminals” linked to the previous ruling party from South 24 Parganas district, like Jahangir Khan, used to operate.

They also alleged that the party office was built on land illegally and forcefully grabbed from the original owner.

Now, all eyes will be on the hearing before the single-judge bench later in the day.

–IANS

src/dpb