The Assembly witnessed noisy scenes here on Tuesday when the legislators of the Left Front raised the issue of grant of bail to Deepali Saha, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator, against whom a police complaint was lodged during Lok Sabha polls for allegedly casting illegal votes.
Ms. Saha had surrendered before a court in Bishnupur in Bankura district on Monday, which granted her conditional bail.
The Left Front MLAs protested in the House when an adjournment motion moved by them on how Minister Shyamapada Mukherjee could appear in her defence, was disallowed.
Speaker Biman Banerjee rejected the motion stating the matter is sub judice.
The Left Front MLAs descended in the House and shouted slogans. After a few minutes, they staged a walk-out.
“I raised a point of order, but was not allowed. During the mention hour, we were allowed to speak. What is going on in the State? What democracy is it? What rule of law is in force?” Surjya Kanta Mishra, Leader of the Opposition, asked, while speaking to journalists.
“The State police had filed a complaint against the MLA on instructions from the Election Commissioner and now our Minister has become her lawyer,” he said, adding that while the Minister was defending Ms. Saha, the government pleader was not present in the courtroom. “We wanted the State government’s view on the development,” Mr. Mishra said.
Mr. Mukherjee had told journalists on Monday that the legislator was not absconding and had remained at her residence all these days. The development has raised questions on the role of the police, who had not been able to arrest Ms. Shah.
