Kolkata, Aug 11 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday extended an interim protection from coercive action to former West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas till November 30 in a case related to chaos at the Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium in December last year.
The state’s Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra filed before the court two reports as per its previous order – one by the Director General of Police (DGP), West Bengal, and another by the Commissioner of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate in connection with the probe into the incident.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya extended the interim order of protection from coercive action by the police to Biswas until November 30 or further orders, whichever is earlier.
The petition by Biswas seeking quashment of criminal proceedings against him will come up for hearing again on November 17, the court directed.
Justice Bhattacharyya clarified that the pendency of the matter before this court will not preclude the investigating agency from taking steps with regard to the ongoing investigation and filing a report before the jurisdictional magistrate.
Lawyers representing Biswas informed Justice Bhattacharyya that he attended police summons on three occasions as directed by the court.
The high court had on June 10 granted interim protection to the former sports minister from any coercive action in a case filed by Satadru Dutta, the owner of the event management company which organised the Messi show.
Granting protection to Biswas, the court had lamented that while similar programmes showcasing the Argentine football star were seamlessly organised in three other metros — Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi — the failure to smoothly conduct the event in Kolkata left a blot on the city’s football-loving image.
Justice Bhattacharyya had on June 10 directed the Commissioner of Bidhannagar Police to conduct an independent inquiry as to why the event could not be organised properly on December 13, 2025, and submit a report.
Dutta accused Biswas of extortion and criminal intimidation, abuse of official and political influence, illegal diversion, monetisation and sale of complimentary tickets for the Messi event for wrongful gain.
In a complaint at Bidhannagar South police station, Dutta alleged that he had to hand over a huge number of complimentary passes, accreditation cards and close proximity passes to Biswas, which were wrongfully distributed for financial gain.
The event management company owner had been incarcerated for more than a month following his arrest in connection with the botched event.
Dutta was arrested on December 13 over alleged mismanagement at the Salt Lake stadium event that day and was granted bail on January 19. PTI AMR RG
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