The Calcutta High Court on Friday (November 13) stayed any further demolition of the house of jailed former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Jahangir Khan at Srirampur in Falta, South 24 Parganas, restraining the respondents from continuing the demolition until the adjourned date, Bar and Bench reported. The matter, Jahangir Khan v. The State of West Bengal and Ors., is listed for further hearing on November 16.

Source: Bar and Bench

Justice Suvra Ghosh passed the order after noting submissions that both Khan and his wife are presently in jail and were unable to receive or participate in any hearing on the demolition. "The petitioner was admittedly in custody at the relevant time. No attempt was made to serve notice upon him at the correctional home," the Court said, holding that the State needs to substantiate service of the hearing notices before further demolition is allowed to continue, and directing the State to produce videos of the notices being served.

The demolition of the allegedly illegal house began at about 8.30 am on Wednesday in the presence of the Block Development Officer, police and fire department personnel, according to reporting on the administration's action. The administration's account is that complaints sought an inquiry into whether the house was built according to rules, that Khan was sent notices and summoned for hearings he did not attend, and that one notice directed him to demolish the unauthorised portion within seven days before officials proceeded.

Source: Urban Acres

Khan's counsel, Senior Advocate Kishore Dutta, submitted that no notice of the demolition hearing was tendered to Khan, refuted the State's claim that notices were affixed at the property, and told the Court the house has been vandalised and that a sanctioned building plan of the residence was stolen. In his plea, Khan said he learnt of the demolition move through social media after his son visited him in jail earlier this month; the plea alleges the action is an example of the ruling BJP targeting members of other political parties — an allegation the State has not accepted.

For the State, Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra stressed that the hearing notices were not only affixed at Khan's residence but that the act was videographed as well. He also argued that no sanction plan was issued for the construction of Khan's home and that the TMC leader neglected to appear in any of the demolition hearings despite being served notice. During the hearing, the Court also asked the State how ownership of the house had been established and why no witnesses were kept, according to Urban Acres' account of the proceedings.

Khan has been in judicial custody since June 8, following his arrest in connection with multiple criminal cases involving allegations of extortion, murder, robbery, criminal intimidation and electoral offences; the allegations against him have not been decided by a court. He was arrested near the India-Nepal border in north Bengal in June after the High Court declined to extend his interim protection in five FIRs, according to earlier reporting on the case.

What happens next turns on the November 16 hearing, at which the State is expected to place on record its proof of notice service, including the videos it says were recorded, while Khan's side presses its claim that a man in custody was never lawfully heard before his house was partly demolished. Until then, the stay means no further demolition can take place at the Falta property.