Uncertainty persists over Asian Games gold medalist Swapna Barman’s Trinamool candidacy

Kolkata, March 26 (IANS) Uncertainty continues to cloud the candidature of Asian Games gold-medallist and Trinamool Congress nominee Swapna Barman from the Rajganj Assembly constituency in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district, following fresh complications linked to a pending disciplinary case against her.

The court had earlier directed her to admit her misconduct and submit a letter to the Railways to that effect. However, it was learnt on Thursday that instead of doing so, Swapna submitted a letter of resignation, thereby creating a new layer of complications.

It has come to light that Swapna joined the Trinamool Congress on February 27 without first resigning from her position as a Railways official. Subsequently, the party nominated her as its candidate for the Rajganj Assembly constituency. On March 9, the Railways initiated a disciplinary inquiry against her, alleging a breach of discipline for participating in political activities while still in service without having tendered her resignation.

She eventually submitted her resignation on March 16. However, as a departmental inquiry was already underway against her, the Railways declined to accept her resignation. In protest against this decision, Swapna moved the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court. The hearing for this case took place on Wednesday before the bench of Justice Gourang Kanth.

During the hearing, the Railways informed the court that a departmental inquiry was indeed pending against Swapna Barman, which was the reason she had not been issued a clearance certificate, mandatory for contesting Assembly elections. However, the Railways stated that if Swapna were to admit her misconduct and waive any claims to post-retirement benefits or entitlements, they would issue her the necessary clearance in due course. After hearing arguments from both sides, the Justice directed Swapna to submit a letter to the Railways admitting her misconduct by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Swapna Barman subsequently submitted a letter to the Railways. However, reports suggest that the Railways were not satisfied with the contents of that letter. As a result, the Deputy Solicitor General, representing the Railways, brought the matter to the attention of the Justice. The Justice then directed Swapna to submit a fresh letter to the Railways, explicitly admitting her misconduct once again.

Swapna was employed as a Social Welfare Officer within the Alipurduar Division of the Railways. Deputy Solicitor General Sudipto Majumdar told local media persons, “Swapna Barman did submit a letter to the Railways; however, as that letter did not align with the specific directives issued by the court, we brought the matter up for mention again. The issue was thus brought to the attention of the Honourable Justice. The Justice has once again directed Swapna Barman to submit a fresh letter to the Railways, explicitly admitting her misconduct.”

–IANS

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