The controversy surrounding the chaos at Salt Lake’s Yuva Bharati Krirangan during Lionel Messi’s event has now reached the courtroom. Three Public Interest Litigations (PILs) have been filed before the Calcutta High Court, challenging the legality of the inquiry committee constituted by the West Bengal government.
One of the PILs has been filed by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, while another has been moved by advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee. The third petition raises similar legal questions, court sources said.
The petitioners have argued that the state government does not have the authority to constitute an inquiry committee headed by a retired judge through an executive decision. According to them, such a probe requires a specific legal framework and cannot be formed arbitrarily.
Following the incident at Yuva Bharati Stadium, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced the formation of an inquiry committee headed by retired Justice Asim Kumar Ray, with senior bureaucrats including the chief secretary and the home secretary as members. The committee has already visited the stadium and initiated its investigation.
However, the PILs contend that while an investigation into the incident is necessary, the process must be constitutionally and legally valid. The petitions seek judicial scrutiny of whether the state government followed due procedure in appointing a retired judge to lead the probe.
Advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee, in his plea, has stated that the issue goes beyond administrative failure and raises serious questions about the limits of executive power. The petition urges the court to determine whether the inquiry panel has any statutory backing.
Suvendu Adhikari’s petition echoes similar concerns, arguing that the state government cannot bypass established legal norms while constituting such a committee, especially in a matter involving public safety, law and order, and administrative accountability.
The High Court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the PILs. Legal experts believe the case could give rise to an important judicial examination of how and under what circumstances state governments can appoint retired judges to lead inquiry panels.
Meanwhile, investigations into the Salt Lake Stadium incident continue at the administrative and police levels, even as the legal challenge adds a new dimension to the controversy.
