New Delhi, Oct 15 The Supreme Court will on Friday hear TMC MP Mahua Moitra's plea seeking permission to stay at a Circuit House during an upcoming visit to her parliamentary constituency Krishnanagar in West Bengal for Durga Puja.
The case came up before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. “If the petitioner wishes to visit her constituency, necessary arrangements have to be made,” Justice Bagchi said.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the MP, told the bench that he was seeking interim relief as she wishes to visit her constituency during the festival.
“It may be kept next week. I will file the reply,” said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government.
“If it's to be sensationalised, I will file a reply overnight...," the law officer said when Moitra’s counsel said the adjournment was being sought unnecessarily.
Durga Puja festivities begin on Friday.
On October 1, the bench asked the West Bengal government and others to file responses on Moitra's plea seeking adequate protection during her visit to her parliamentary constituency.
Moitra alleged in her plea that district administration officials in Nadia -- Krishnanagar is the district headquarters -- had evicted her from a Circuit House even though she was allotted a room at the state-owned property.
On the night of August 14, Moitra claimed in a social media post that a large crowd had gathered outside the Circuit House, raising "Jai Shri Ram" slogans, after she refused to leave the premises.
She wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking his intervention in the matter.
The Krishnanagar MP had also threatened to move court over the alleged harassment.
She claimed in her letter to Birla that nobody had conveyed anything to her when she made the booking and no one had informed her about the booking embargo when she checked in.
The MP said the premises, opposite the bungalows of both the superintendent of police and the district magistrate, are supposed to be secure where no crowd can gather, let alone a lynch mob.
