Aroop Biswas Gets Relief as Calcutta HC Extends Protection Till November 30

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday extended interim protection from coercive action to former West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas until November 30 in connection with the chaos that marred Lionel Messi ’s event at Salt Lake Stadium in December 2025.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya extended the protection while hearing Biswas’s plea seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings against him. The court directed that the matter be listed again for hearing on November 17.

West Bengal Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra placed before the court two reports submitted in compliance with its earlier order. The reports were prepared by the West Bengal Director General of Police and the Commissioner of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate as part of the investigation into the incident.

The court clarified that the pendency of Biswas’s petition would not prevent the investigating agency from continuing its probe or filing its report before the jurisdictional magistrate. Biswas’s lawyers informed the court that the former minister had appeared before the police three times in response to summons issued in accordance with the court’s directions.

The High Court had granted Biswas interim protection on June 10 following a complaint filed by event organiser Satadru Dutta, who accused the former minister of extortion, criminal intimidation, misuse of official and political influence, and the alleged wrongful distribution and monetisation of complimentary tickets and accreditation passes.

Dutta, the owner of the company that organised the Messi event, alleged that he was forced to hand over a large number of complimentary passes, accreditation cards and close-proximity passes to Biswas, which were subsequently distributed for financial gain. While granting protection earlier, Justice Bhattacharyya had directed the Bidhannagar Police Commissioner to conduct an independent inquiry into why the December 13 event could not be conducted smoothly.

The court had also observed that similar programmes featuring the Argentine football star were successfully organised in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, while the Kolkata event had tarnished the image of the city known for its football culture. Dutta was arrested on December 13 over alleged mismanagement of the event and was granted bail on January 19 after spending more than a month in custody.