2 hrs ago
Calcutta High Court Stays Notice Vacating Abhishek Banerjee Office
A government fire department told a political party office in Kolkata to leave its building.
Officials said the office floors did not follow some fire-safety rules.
The Trinamool Congress challenged the order in court.
The party said it was unfair to target only the floors containing Abhishek Banerjee’s office.
Government lawyers said the fire alarms did not work there and there were too few sprinklers.
The building owner also said a cafeteria had been created without permission.
A judge has temporarily stopped the office from being forced to leave.
The court will consider the case again on September 16.
The office had also recently been involved in a separate dispute over an illegal billboard.
The Calcutta High Court temporarily stayed a West Bengal Fire Services notice ordering an office linked to Abhishek Banerjee to be vacated.
The notice cited six fire-safety irregularities on the building’s seventh and eighth floors at Camac Street.
The court’s stay remains in effect until September 16, when the matter is scheduled for judgment.
The Trinamool Congress argued that targeting only the two floors housing Banerjee’s office was vindictive.
State authorities said fire alarms were not functioning and that the floors had fewer sprinklers than others; the building owner cited an unauthorized cafeteria.
- Who
- The Trinamool Congress, Abhishek Banerjee, West Bengal Fire Services, the building owner, and the Calcutta High Court.
- What
- The court issued an interim stay on a notice ordering vacation of the seventh- and eighth-floor office space.
- Where
- The office is on the seventh and eighth floors of a building on Camac Street in Kolkata.
- When
- The notice was served on September 4; the stay continues until September 16, when judgment is scheduled.
- Why
- West Bengal Fire Services cited six fire-safety irregularities, while the Trinamool Congress challenged the notice as vindictive.
Trinamool Congress and Office Representatives
State Authorities and Building Owner
Whether the notice was selective
Trinamool Congress and Office Representatives
Trinamool Congress counsel Kishor Dutta argued that the notice appeared vindictive because only the seventh and eighth floors were declared unsafe.
State Authorities and Building Owner
State authorities maintained that those floors had specific fire-safety problems, including non-operating fire alarms and fewer sprinklers.
Additional building violation
Trinamool Congress and Office Representatives
The Trinamool Congress challenged the vacation notice in the High Court and sought to keep the office from being vacated.
State Authorities and Building Owner
The building owner, Rama Devi Goenka, said occupants had established a cafeteria on the two floors without prior approval.
Recent dispute at the office
Trinamool Congress and Office Representatives
Trinamool Congress activists resisted Kolkata Municipal Corporation staff and police who arrived to remove an illegal billboard.
State Authorities and Building Owner
Police filed three FIRs alleging assaults on on-duty officers and an attempt to outrage the modesty of a female police officer.
Key facts
- Court
- Calcutta High Court, before Justice Krishna Rao’s single-judge bench
- Notice issuer
- West Bengal Fire Services department
- Notice date
- September 4
- Office location
- Seventh and eighth floors, Camac Street, Kolkata
- Stay period
- Until September 16
- Alleged safety issues
- Non-operating fire alarms and fewer fire sprinklers than on other floors
- Separate Camac Street case
- Fourteen people had been arrested in connection with clashes over removal of an illegal billboard
Sources
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