Supreme Court to hear Mahua Moitra's Krishnanagar accommodation plea on Friday

The Supreme Court is scheduled to consider on Friday Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's request for accommodation at the government Circuit House in Krishnanagar, West Bengal. She wants to visit her parliamentary constituency during Durga Puja and has also sought protection.

The matter was placed before Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. Moitra's lawyer, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, requested interim relief because her proposed visit coincides with the festival, whose festivities begin on Friday.

Justice Bagchi said arrangements would be needed if the petitioner intended to travel to her constituency. The court had already sought responses from the West Bengal government and other parties on October 1 regarding her request for security.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the state government, asked for the hearing to be held the following week so that he could submit a reply. After Moitra's counsel questioned the need for a delay, Mehta said he could prepare the response overnight.

Moitra's petition alleges that Nadia district administration officials removed her from the state-owned accommodation despite an existing room allotment. Krishnanagar serves as the district headquarters of Nadia.

In a social media account of the dispute, the MP alleged that a crowd assembled outside the property on the night of August 14 after she declined to leave. She said those gathered there shouted religious slogans.

Moitra subsequently asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to intervene and said she would approach the courts over the alleged harassment. In her letter, she maintained that no booking restriction had been communicated either when she reserved the room or when she arrived.

The MP also questioned security at the property, pointing to its position opposite the residences of the district magistrate and superintendent of police. Friday's hearing will address her request to stay there and receive protection during the festival visit.