Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed Krishnanagar police to deploy two cops for a month to protect Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra during her visits to her constituency, where she has been repeatedly pelted with stones, eggs, potatoes and tomatoes since her party’s defeat in the assembly elections.
The petition cited an incident on July 1, when a mob had gathered on NH 34 and targeted the MP with stones and eggs after she had checked into a guest house. The HC scheduled the next hearing for Oct 1 and asked Moitra to cooperate with police in the ongoing investigations involving her. deploy police personnel for a limited period so that these obnoxious incidents do not recur. ” In his written order, the judge specified that the MP would be accompanied by two cops whenever she visited Krishnanagar While personal security is present.
Slamming police, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya said, “If a member of Parliament is subjected to egg-pelting and other forms of harassment upon entering her constituency, what will happen to others who show allegiance to a rival political party? Moitra had filed a petition in the HC seeking police protection during her visits to the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency, where she said stones, eggs, potatoes and tomatoes were thrown at her several times. The attacks, she wrote in her petition, prevented her from visiting the constituency. When additional advocate general Rajdeep Mazumder submitted that Moitra had already been granted protection, the judge countered: “If she is already protected, then how did these incidents occur, compelling the police to register FIRs? Prima facie, this demonstrates that there are incidents affecting her safety and security, and that the petitioner was harassed. Justice Bhattacharyya observed: “After all, the petitioner is a woman MP. Whenever she enters her constituency, appropriate protection must be provided. Provide it for a month, after which I will call for a further report. This is not protection everywhere — she must receive protection when visiting her constituency. She will intimate the authorities in advance regarding her visit and duration.
When she went there, nearly 50 BJP supporters gathered and pelted her with eggs. Appearing for Moitra, her Lok Sabha colleague and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee submitted: “The FIRs were registered belatedly. Protection is essential; otherwise, she cannot move freely. In one instance, a criminal case was initiated against her. Whenever she tries to attend court, she is obstructed. She is in a peculiar situation and even had to sell her house. If this can happen to a woman MP…”