Calcutta HC halts fire department’s vacate order for Abhishek Banerjee’s office till September 16

The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal Fire Services Department not to give effect to its order directing the occupants of two floors of a high-rise building housing TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee’s office to vacate the premises until September 16.

The direction came after the hearing of a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress challenging the September 4 order of the Fire Services Department. Justice Krishna Rao said the court would pronounce its order in the matter on September 16.

“The authorities are directed to restrain from giving any effect to the letter dated September 4, 2026,” the court said.

The Fire Services Department had directed the occupants of the sixth and seventh floors of the building on Camac Street in central Kolkata to vacate the premises, citing an alleged lack of fire safety measures.

During the hearing, TMC counsel Kishore Dutta told the court that the lessor of the two floors leased to the party had terminated the lease on August 25. A civil court, however, stayed the termination on September 2, he said.

Dutta submitted that the Fire Services Department subsequently issued the vacate notice after finding that the fire safety certificate for the premises had expired.

Opposing the petition, Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra told the court that several fire safety norms had been violated on the two floors and that a number of LPG cylinders had been stored on one of them.

Counsel for the building owner also alleged that the lessee had set up a cafeteria on one of the floors without permission.

The dispute comes days after authorities removed an alleged illegal TMC billboard from the same building. The removal had led to a scuffle involving private security guards at Banerjee’s office, party supporters and police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials.

(With inputs from PTI)