The Supreme Court has allowed Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bishnupur Lok Sabha candidate, Soumitra Kha, to enter Bankura district for one day in order to file his nomination papers.
On March 27, the Calcutta High Court had passed an order preventing Kha from entering the district for the next six weeks. Kha, who was earlier with the Trinamool Congress, later joined the BJP. The court meant trouble for Kha as he is the BJP’s candidate of Bishnupur constituency in this district. This is the seat from where he had won in 2014 on a Trinamool Congress ticket. The Court had added though that he could not be immediately arrested.
Kha and his party leaders were worried how he would contest the polls without campaigning or filing nominations and had thus moved the Supreme Court. On Friday, the court allowed him to go and file nominations on any one day between April 16 to 24, and added that he would have to abide by the other aspects of the ruling of the Calcutta High Court too.
Complaints had been lodged against Kha in four cases – including illegal sand mining, receiving money from School Service Commission (SSC) candidates with the promise of clearing their examinations. In two cases, he had been granted anticipatory bail. But this was denied in two other cases.
Lawyers representing Kha however, have said that the allegations of taking money from SSC examinees was made after the examinations were over and results were out. They questioned the veracity of such a first information report. The High Court has asked for the entire matter to be investigated, and the “larger conspiracy angle” to be probed thoroughly. SSC authorities have also been asked to be questioned in the matter.
Meanwhile, Soumitra Kha’s wife Sujata Kha has started campaigning in the district along with BJP workers in Bankura.
