Calcutta HC halts demolition of Abhishek Banerjee's Amtala office till Aug 21
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Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday extended the interim stay on the demolition of Trinamool Congress General Secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee's party office at Amtala in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district till August 21.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh extended the stay after hearing the matter on Wednesday. The earlier interim order, which had halted the demolition, was set to expire on August 6.
The court has fixed August 18 as the next date of hearing.
The demolition of the party office, belonging to Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, began last month over allegations that it had been constructed without valid plans and approvals.
A portion of the building was demolished using three bulldozers before Banerjee approached the High Court challenging the action.
Following earlier hearings, the High Court had initially stayed the demolition till August 6. That interim relief has now been extended till August 21.
Earlier, the South 24 Parganas district administration had issued notices to Abhishek Banerjee after receiving multiple complaints regarding the Amtala office.
According to the notices, the land on which the office was built had been purchased in the name of Leaps and Bounds Private Limited, a corporate entity linked to the Banerjee family.
After receiving no response to two successive notices, the district administration initiated the demolition last month.
The demolition drive was subsequently challenged in the High Court by the corporate entity.
During Wednesday's hearing, Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra sought additional time to present detailed arguments on behalf of the state government.
Justice Ghosh thereafter listed the matter for further hearing on August 18 and extended the interim stay on the demolition until August 21.
With IANS inputs