The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the Election Comission to preserve all documents, election papers, devices and video recordings connected to the West Bengal Assembly election that took place earlier this year.

The high court issued directions while hearing a petition filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging Suvendu Adhikari’s victory from Nandigram during the assembly election held this year.

“All documents, election papers, devices, video recordings connected with election under challenge in the court shall be preserved” by the Election Commission which is the custodian of the case, the high court said.

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While issuing the orders, the high court also said notices will be served to the respondent (Suvendu Adhikari), returning officer and the Election Commission. “The election petition does not suffer from any defect as provided in 86(1) of the People Act 1951,” it said.

The matter has now been posted for hearing on August 12, 2021.

Suvendu Adhikari had defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram by 1,956 votes, according to the Election Commission. Following the election results, Mamata Banerjee challenged Adhikari’s win in the Calcutta High Court.

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The case was reassigned to the bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal after Justice Kausik Chanda recused from hearing the Trinamool Congress supremo’s election petition.

Mamata Banerjee had objected to her petition being heard by Justice Chanda alleging the bench could be biased against her. She sought Justice Chanda’s recusal on the ground of possible bias. Justice Chanda later recused from the case but imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Mamata Banerjee for the manner in which she levelled charge against the Calcutta High Court judge.

Justice Chanda had then said that he was doing so in order to thwart, at the outset, attempts by trouble-mongers to keep the controversy alive, news agency PTI reported.

Mamata Banerjee’s lawyers had suggested that Justice Chanda should recuse himself from the case since he was associated with the legal cell of the BJP before his elevation as a Judge and had appeared in a number of cases on behalf of the said party before the high court as a lawyer.

Her lawyer had suggested during his submissions before the court that there is a conflict of interest since Justice Chanda had a close relationship with the BJP and the petitioner has challenged the election of a BJP candidate.

In its order, the court had said that it is preposterous to suggest that a judge having a past association with a political party as a lawyer should not receive a case involving the said political party or any of its members.

Justice Chanda had noted that like any other citizen of the country, a judge also exercises his voting rights in favour of a political party, but he lays aside his individual predilection while deciding.