Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee moved the high court on Monday against attacks on party leaders with eggs and alleging a lack of police effort to prevent such incidents.
Appearing for Abhishek “and others”, advocate Sirsanya Bandyopadhyay prayed before the division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee against hurling eggs at the accused, parading an accused in shorts or underwear with ropes around the waist and hands in cuffs.
“We have never seen this in Bengal. Trinamool Congress leaders are being arrested illegally and subjected to unethical treatment. Eggs are being hurled at them, and they are being paraded on roads with their hands cuffed and ropes around their waists. All this when they are merely accused of an offence, and not even convicted. The police are neither taking complaints nor acting on the situation,” Bandyopadhyay told the court.
He filed the petition on behalf of Abhishek Banerjee, Derek O’Brien, Kalyan Bandopadhyay, Sougata Roy, Madan Mitra and others.
“There was an incident outside the Calcutta airport before the arrival of Abhishek Banerjee last week, where a man was seen carrying arms. We do not even know what happened to him (if any action was taken against him),” the lawyer said.
After hearing the plea, the bench allowed him to file the petition. It would come up for a hearing soon, court sources said.
Operation egg-shaming was launched in Bengal on May 30, with Abhishek its first target during a visit to Sonarpur.
In less than two weeks, such attacks were a “hit” among protesters, and they have had at least a dozen victims.
Former Bidhannagar mayor Sabyasachi Dutta, Trinamool state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar and several others were subjected to public humiliation in police presence. In many cases, the police accompanying them were also hit. The police allegedly did not protest that either.
Several officers have claimed helplessness in the face of “spontaneous mob fury” that had been “bottled up for years”.
Many Trinamool leaders arrested in the districts have been paraded in their home or inner wear while in police custody.
Former Falta MLA Jahangir Khan, who was arrested recently, was paraded on the roads in his area wearing shorts and with a rope around his waist.
He was also seen boxing his ears and making gestures of apology with folded hands towards people assembled to see his predicament.