Kolkata: In a special Sunday sitting, the Calcutta High Court ordered an immediate halt to the demolition of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee’s Diamon Harbour parliamentary office in South 24 Parganas district.
Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury passed an interim order, directing all parties to maintain status quo until further orders or the next date of hearing.
Justice Basu Chowdhury was hearing an urgent writ petition filed by Leaps & Bounds Pvt. Ltd, which challenged the bulldozer action on its property at Amtala as “gross, malicious and illegal.”
On Saturday, Abhishek’s office was demolished, allegedly because it was constructed without an approved building plan and he failed to reply to two notices sent by the administration.
A bulldozer was taken to the site and, in the presence of a large police contingent, the demolition was carried out.
According to the South 24 Parganas district administration, a notice was issued to Abhishek’s office in Amtala on June 30, seeking explanation and relevant documents on various approvals and permissions related to the construction of the office.
A second notice was served on July 7, and the MP was instructed to appear before the district administration’s office on July 15 to submit his response.
Since no reply was received to either notice, and the MP did not come to the district administration’s office, the authorities decided to take stricter action, an official said.
‘Theft in uniform’
Abhishek was scathing in his response.
“The lawlessness in Bengal is on full display. Despite Supreme Court and High Court rulings holding bulldozer demolitions unconstitutional, my Lok Sabha constituency office at Amtala was demolished yesterday,” he wrote on X.
He also alleged that videos showed West Bengal Police personnel carrying away laptops, printers, documents, furniture and other office equipment along with “BJP goons”, describing the operation as “theft in uniform” rather than a demolition.
He accused the police of showing “utter contempt for the rule of law” while the matter was sub-judice before the High Court.
#WATCH | West Bengal: An anti-encroachment drive is being carried out amidst security arrangements around MP Abhishek Banerjee’s closed office in Amtala, South 24 Parganas. pic.twitter.com/wFgKgqkRYp
— ANI (@ANI) July 18, 2026
Vengeful politics, says TMC
TMC, which has been split following its defeat at the hands of BJP in the state Assembly polls in May, accused the ruling party of “vengeful, violent politics”.
“This matter is already pending before the Court. However, a new culture has been introduced in Bengal – the bulldozer culture since the BJP came to power. What we witnessed today was an act of vengeance and dirty, violent politics, with ‘goonda raj’ on full display,” the party said in a statement.
Reacting to the demolition, Banerjee accused the West Bengal Police of acting unlawfully and alleged that valuables were removed from the premises during the operation.
