The Calcutta High Court today directed that the 'Y-plus' security given to BJP leader Mukul Roy by the Centre would remain, as it dismissed a PIL seeking withdrawal of the security cover given to the leader.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice J Bhattacharya and Justice A Banerjee passed the direction after considering a report placed by the Centre on threat perceptions on Roy and the requirement to provide security to him.
Roy is a former railways minister and was a Rajya Sabha MP representing the Trinamool Congress, before joining the BJP.
A TMC councillor from Salt Lake, Debraj Chakraborty had filed a PIL claiming that Roy, being an ordinary citizen at present, did not need a security cover using public money.
The court had sought a report from the central government on the issue.
Additional Solicitor General Kaushik Chanda filed a report in a sealed cover before the court stating the threat perceptions and requirement of security to Roy.
More From This Section
After going through the reasons given by the Centre for providing security cover to Roy, the court dismissed the PIL.
The petitioner claimed that Roy had returned 'Z' category security provided to him by the West Bengal government, days before quitting the TMC, of which he was the general secretary.
Roy was given 'Y-plus' category security by the Centre with 12 CRPF personnel after joining the saffron party, Chakraborty claimed.