In response to five complaints filed against former Visva-Bharati University vice chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, the Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered police to hold off on arresting him until November 29. The court observed that Chakrabarty received notices from the Santiniketan police station as soon as he resigned as vice chancellor.
A vacation bench led by Justice Jay Sengupta took up a petition filed by the former VC and, given its urgency, ordered police not to detain Chakrabarty in connection with these five cases until the next date hearing on November 29. “It is quite uncanny indeed that different officers belonging to the same police station issued notices to the petitioner to appear and be examined on the very next date of issuance of such notices,” the judge stated.
Just one day after leaving office, Justice Jay Sengupta’s vacation bench overruled seven notices the local police had issued against him in connection with seven distinct criminal allegations. The court observed that seven notices were sent out by various Santiniketan Police Station officers in the Bolur district.
The petitioner received notices from several police officers in the same police station to come in and be interviewed on the day after the notices were issued, which is really strange. By the way, all of these notifications were sent out right away following the petitioner’s resignation from the university’s vice chancellorship, as the Court noted in its ruling.
The bench continued by questioning if this was a coordinated attempt. These facts alone would support a temporary intervention. It is reassuring, therefore, to see the state take a reasonable stance and declare that, should the petitioner comply with the notices on the date and in the manner determined by this Court, it will not take any coercive action against him.”
Consequently, it directed the police to hold off on arresting Chakrabarty until the following hearing date. The Santiniketan Police Station was further instructed by the Bench to provide copies of every First Information Report (FIR) filed against Chakrabarty. The Indian Penal Code’s Sections 295A (inciting religious feelings), 505(2) (creating enmity between two groups), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 504 (intentional insult to disturb peace) are the main ones under which Chakrabarty is the subject of filed police reports.
“On November 20, the police will have the authority to send notices and question the petitioner in three of the five cases, for a maximum of one hour each. In the same way, the police authority will be allowed to question him about the remaining two incidents on November 22 for no more than an hour in each case, according to the directive.
The Court clarified that Chakrabarty would be questioned by the policeman at his home. After Chakrabarty attempted to “set things right” at the university, he said, the state government filed fictitious complaints against him.
