Tripura HC relieved senior IAS cadre Sailesh Yadav from charges of atrocities in marriage halls

AGARTALA: The High Court of Tripura relieved the senior IAS cadre and then District Magistrate of West Tripura; present Commissioner of Agartala Municipal Corporation Dr Sailesh Kr Yadav from the charge of improper behaviour and alleged atrocities on two marriage parties for violating COVID restrictions in April 2021 in the city.

After a long hearing and scrutinizing three separate reports of the inquiry committees against Dr Yadav, a divisional bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Arindam Lodh dismissed three writ petitions on Wednesday and issued a clean chit to him.

His promotion and central deputation have been held up for the last four years due to the pending case in the high court. However, the court dismissed the petitions that claimed Dr Yadav had behaved improperly with the people present in the ceremony exceeding his powers, abusing the on-duty police officers, and physically assaulting the priest, groom, and his family accusing them of violating COVID curfew and the provisions of Disaster Management Act.

Since the allegations of excess were raised against the District Magistrate, a probe committee was formed with two IAS officers, but the first report couldn’t satisfy the High Court. Retired Judicial Officer Shubash Shikdar was included in the committee but the second report had failed to satisfy the High Court. The third inquiry was done by one retired District Judge Bamdeb Majumder.

However, none of these reports couldn’t establish the allegation of DM’s excess in the marriage halls and illegal detention of women and children for violation of COVID curfew. Moreover, it was established that the wedding ceremony was solemnized in the early evening and Dr Yadav had raided the hall late at night on April 26, 2021, said Yadav’s advocate Samrat Kar Bhowmik.

The raids had invited widespread criticism across the country and a video of the DM's action went viral on social media. The state government has been under pressure to take action against Yadav from the cross-section of society. The All-India Priests’ organizations have demanded the state government award exemplary punishment to Yadav for assaulting the priest.


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