Kolkata, Dec 22 A division bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Monday, reserved the order on a plea seeking a central agency probe into the “mismanagement” during an event at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on December 13 involving Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi that ultimately led to chaos and vandalism within the stadium.
The hearings for the public interest litigations with the twin demands for a central agency probe, both in the event of chaos and financial irregularities behind the sale of tickets for the event, were concluded at the Division Bench of Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen on Monday.
However, at the end of the hearing, the Division Bench decided to reserve the order.
During hearings, the counsels for the petitioners argued that the central agency probe in both matters was necessary since the parallel probes conducted by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-appointed probe committee headed by a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court and the one by a special investigation team of state police were not reliable.
The counsels for the petitioners further argued that, besides the scheduled event of Messi at Salt Lake Stadium, an influential section got him involved in some other unscheduled programmes for which he arrived late at Salt Lake Stadium.
Thereafter, the spectators who purchased tickets for the event at extremely high prices were denied proper visual access to the soccer star as he was surrounded by several politically influential persons and their family members, who irked the spectators and ultimately led to the chaos and vandalism, the counsels for the petitioner argued.
The state government counsel argued that Messi’s security at the stadium was the responsibility of the central armed police forces. The lawyer also detailed the actions taken by the state government in the event of mismanagement and chaos.
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