EVMs used in Nandigram, where Mamata Banerjee lost, should be preserved: Calcutta High Court

Kolkata, July 14: In what comes as a recent development, papers and EVMs used for voting in West Bengal's Nandigram, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost in the recent assembly election, should be preserved and kept safely, the Calcutta High Court has said.

Mamata Banerjee was present before Justice Shampa Sarkar in today's hearing online. The court said notice should also be served to the Election Commission and the Returning Officer.

The petition by the Trinamool Congress chief was earlier with Justice Kaushik Chanda, who fined her of Rs 5 lakh after making angry observations, accusing CM Banerjee of a "planned move to malign a judge" and of violating her constitutional duty.

Justice Chanda then exited the case. CM Banerjee had asked the judge to quit the case over "conflict of interest".

Saying that the Chief Minister's "election petition doesn't suffer from any defect", the court fixed the next hearing of the petition on August 12.

It also directed that all documents, election papers, gadgets and video recordings linked with the election should be preserved by the concerned authority.