Bhabanipur poll case: HC judge discloses brother’s BJP role; orders CCTV, EVMs preserved

Kolkata High Court judge Gaurang Kant, while hearing Mamata Banerjee’s plea challenging the Bhabanipur Assembly seat poll result, told the TMC chief’s lawyer on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 that his elder brother is the BJP spokesperson and he will hear the matter after all the clarifications are made.

After the preliminary hearing of Ms. Banerjee’s petition, Justice Kant ordered preservation of CCTV footage dated May 4 of the counting hall, EVMs and VVPAT machines of all polling stations in the constituency.

The judge initially told Mamata Banerjee’s lawyer Kalyan Banerjee that he wanted to “make it very clear” that his “brother is the national spokesperson of the BJP”.

Stating that this situation could be worrying in terms of the petition, Judge Kant said that he would hear the election petition “after all the explanations so that you do not have any problems later.” Kalyan Banerjee, herself a Lok Sabha MP, told the court that she had “trust and respect” for the judge. “My trust and respect for you as a judge is not determined by any other factor,” the lawyer said.

“I have confidence in the judiciary and believe that the Indian judiciary can be independent only when a judge is independent,” the senior lawyer said.

He said that Judge Kant was one of the gentlemanly and learned judges of the high court and that he felt that no one, relative or not, was a factor for him.

“[It] Judge Kant said, “It doesn’t matter to us, we are here to dispense justice.”

Following Kalyan Banerjee’s prayer, the top court directed the Election Commission to preserve the CCTV footage of the counting center at Sakhawat Memorial School in Bhabanipur, dated May 4, including footage from inside and outside the counting hall, and keep it in a safe place.

Justice Kant also ordered the preservation of EVMs, including control units and ballot box units used in all polling booths in Bhabanipur and all VVPAT machines used in the constituency.

Justice Kant said that CCTV footage, EVMs and VVPATs will not be deleted, overwritten, destroyed, tampered with, transferred, redeployed, opened or acted upon in any way without the permission of the court.

The court ruled that the EVMs used in all relevant polling stations will be kept in the custody of the district election officer until the petition is finally decided by the courts.

It directed the defendants’ lawyers to file objections within four weeks and the plaintiff’s response to the petition within four weeks thereafter.

The court said the case would be heard again in 12 weeks.

The election petition was filed by Mamata Banerjee on allegations of corrupt practices, illegal deletion of voters from electoral rolls, irregularities in counting and non-compliance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act.

It was alleged that a significant number of voters were unlawfully deleted from the voter rolls during the SIR process and that the official who returned to the constituency was appointed despite allegations of conflict of interest.

Kalyan Banerjee also alleged that serious irregularities took place during the counting process on May 4, which led to the petitioner being evicted by enumerators from the counting hall, resulting in harm to the petitioner.

The alleged irregularities allegedly affected the election outcome.

Alleging irregularities after the 12th round of counting, the TMC lawyer said that with a margin of 18 per cent in Mamata Banerjee’s favour, her main rival Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP had an 81 per cent lead.

The lawyer argued that the CCTV footage would show the events in the counting hall.

Also alleging a “reciprocity” arrangement, Kalyan Banerjee stated before the court that the returning officer for the Bhabanipur seat election was in the same position in the 2021 Nandigram elections in which Mr. Adhikari and Mamata Banerjee were contestants.

He alleged that the returning officer showed nepotism and that Mamata Banerjee also lost the election in Nandigram in 2021.

The lawyer also stated before the court that the officer was appointed as joint secretary in the CMO soon after Mr. Adhikari was sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal.

Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal has been appointed as the chief secretary of the state after the election, Kalyan Banerjee said, adding that Subrata Gupta, who was the special observer of the SIR process in West Bengal and later the special observer of the Assembly elections, has been appointed as the special advisor to the chief minister after the election.

Mr. Adhikari won the Bhabanipur seat by a margin of 15,105 votes against Mamata Banerjee.

It was published – 24 June 2026 12:56 IST