Kolkata, June 10 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from coercive action to former West Bengal minister Aroop Biswas till August 17, subject to several conditions.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya said that the investigating agency will continue the investigation as per the law. In the event of any notice being issued, the petitioner must appear before the investigating agency, which, in turn, has been asked to give at least 48 hours’ prior notice.

The High Court also ordered that Aroop Biswas will have to cooperate in the investigation. If he does not respond to the notice, the police can bring the matter to the attention of the court.

He has also been ordered to submit his passport to a lower court within seven days. At the same time, Aroop will not be able to go outside his residential area without the court’s permission.

The matter relates to alleged irregularities during Lionel Messi’s ‘GOAT India Tour’ event at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake on December 13 last year, where crowd management issues reportedly led to chaos and the footballer’s early exit due to security concerns.

Observing that the event had been conducted smoothly in other cities, the court said the incident had adversely impacted the city’s reputation and asserted that granting protection would not dilute the seriousness of the allegations.

During the hearing, the court also raised questions over Biswas’ alleged proximity to Messi and sought explanations on the circumstances leading to the disruption in Kolkata. “The event was held without any issues in three other cities, but why was there chaos in Kolkata?” the court asked.

Petitioner and main event organiser Satadru Dutta’s lawyer claimed in court that 70,000 tickets were issued. Aroop Biswas alone took 22,000 tickets for people in his Assembly constituency.

Satadru’s lawyer said that Aroop sold such tickets to many clubs. The court also ordered the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident. It should be investigated why the event could not be held properly. The court also ordered that the investigation report should be submitted within four weeks.

Former state minister Aroop Biswas had approached the Calcutta High Court fearing arrest. Aroop’s counsel, Kishore Dutta, drew the attention of the High Court to the fear of Aroop’s arrest in the Messi case. He applied for protection.

The police had filed an FIR a few days ago based on the complaint of Satadru Dutta, the main organiser of Lionel Messi’s event at Yuva Bharati Krirangan in Salt Lake. Satadru had filed a complaint against Aroop and several others.

–IANS

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