Kolkata Building Owner Takes Trinamool Office to Court Over Eviction

Rama Devi Goenka, who owns the ten‑storey structure on Camac Street, walked into the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday with a simple, if urgent, request: let her evict the Trinamool Congress office that occupies the seventh and eighth floors, the space used by party General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and his staff.

According to Goenka’s petition, the lease that was signed on March 1, 2020 with the All India Youth Trinamool Congress was never honoured in spirit. The agreement stipulated that the landlord would first hand over a completion certificate before the youth wing could move in. In practice, the party allegedly took possession well before any such certificate was issued.

But the grievances run deeper than a premature hand‑over. The owner claims a massive billboard was slapped onto the building’s roof without her knowledge, and that the party’s members have been making use of areas not covered by the lease – the stairwell, the garage and even the rooftop itself.

On top of the spatial disputes, Goenka says the party has stopped paying rent for the past five months. She first raised these points in a lower‑court filing, which resulted only in a status‑quo order – essentially a “wait‑and‑see” that left the occupants in place.

Unsatisfied, she appealed to Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court, asking the judge to overturn the lower court’s directive and grant her the right to reclaim her property.

The controversy isn’t limited to civil litigation. Just a few weeks ago, Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials, accompanied by police, tried to take down the billboard that Goenka says was installed without permission. The effort turned chaotic when Trinamool activists – led, according to witnesses, by Banerjee, Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien and other senior faces – allegedly resisted the officials.

That skirmish led to three FIRs being lodged at Shakespeare Sarani police station, accusing party cadres of assaulting on‑duty officers and even trying to outrage a woman police officer’s modesty. Two of those FIRs name Banerjee, O’Brien, Humayun Kabir and Baishwanar Chatterjee as accused. So far, 14 people have been arrested, and Banerjee’s personal assistant, Sumit Roy, has already been questioned.

While the legal battle over rent and space continues, the political fallout adds another layer of tension. The case highlights how a seemingly routine lease dispute can quickly spiral into a high‑profile clash involving senior politicians, municipal bodies and law‑enforcement agencies.