Calcutta HC sets aside trust vote held at civic body
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday set aside a vote of confidence held at the Bongaon Municipality for its chairman last month and ruled that a fresh process be held for deciding his fate.
Justice Samapti Chattopadhyay asked the civic body to hold a fresh vote of confidence within 12 days at the office of the district magistrate of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas. The court said a notice for conducting the vote should be sent to the councillors willing to exercise their franchise.
Justice Chattopadhyay directed the district superintendent of police to ensure security of all councillors participating in the fresh mandate for Chairman Shankar Addhya.
The order was passed on separate petitions moved by 11 Bharatiya Janata Party councillors, who claimed that they were forcibly prevented by the police and people owing allegiance to the Trinamool Congress from participating in the trust vote.
Both the ruling TMC and the opposition BJP have claimed victory in the no-confidence vote held at the 22-member municipality board on July 16.
After the vote, which was attended by councillors of the TMC, the election officer had reported to the sub-divisional officer and the district magistrate that Addhya won by 10-0 votes. Of the 22 members in the civic board, 10 are of the TMC and one of the CPI(M).
Supporters of the TMC and the BJP had clashed and bombs were hurled in front of the municipality office following the dispute over trust vote.
The BJP councillors, who had individually moved the high court, claimed that they had come up with a resolution later, signed by all 11 of them, expressing "no confidence" in the chairman.
