The Calcutta High Court on Monday declined to grant urgent hearings to separate petitions filed by former West Bengal ministers Aroop Biswas and Sujit Bose, who sought judicial intervention in cases being investigated by the police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), respectively.

Former sports minister Aroop Biswas moved the court seeking protection from coercive action by the police and challenging an FIR lodged against him in connection with alleged irregularities during an event featuring Argentine football star Lionel Messi at Salt Lake Stadium last year.

Justice Sougata Bhattacharyya, while permitting Biswas' lawyer to file the petition, said the matter would be heard according to the regular serial of listed cases and refused to accord it urgent status.

Biswas was summoned by the police on Monday after he failed to appear before investigators on an earlier date last week. The summons relates to an FIR filed by event organiser Shatadru Dutta, who accused the former minister of black-marketing tickets, extortion, criminal intimidation and cheating linked to the December 13, 2025 event.

The programme at Salt Lake Stadium had descended into chaos after a large number of people allegedly entered the venue without valid access, resulting in security breaches and crowd disorder.

Several spectators who had purchased expensive tickets complained that they were unable to properly view Messi or enjoy the event due to overcrowding and poor crowd management. The football icon reportedly left the venue quickly amid the commotion, following which sections of angry spectators vandalised parts of the stadium.

Police later arrested Dutta, who spent 37 days in custody before securing bail. After his release, he blamed Biswas for the collapse of the event and the financial losses suffered by the organisers.

Sujit Bose's petition against ED arrest

In a separate matter, the Calcutta High Court also refused an urgent hearing of a petition filed by former West Bengal fire services minister Sujit Bose challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the alleged municipal recruitment scam.

The ED arrested Bose on May 11 as part of its money laundering investigation linked to the recruitment scam, which is also being probed by the CBI.

Justice Krishna Rao observed that petitions seeking quashing of arrest orders cannot ordinarily be treated as urgent matters and directed that the case be heard according to its position in the court's regular list.

Appearing for Bose, his lawyer argued that the arrest order violated provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), contending that the former minister had not been named as an accused in the CBI chargesheet filed in the municipal recruitment scam case.

Justice Rao said the petition would be included in the June list and heard according to its serial number.