The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday extended interim protection from coercive action to former West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas in connection with the chaos surrounding Lionel Messi's G.O.A.T. India Tour at Salt Lake Stadium in December last year.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya extended the protection until Nov. 30 or until further orders, whichever is earlier. The court will hear Biswas's plea seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings against him again on Nov. 17.
However, the court made it clear that the pendency of the case will not prevent the investigating agency from continuing its probe and submitting its report before the jurisdictional magistrate.
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During the hearing, West Bengal Advocate General Surojit Nath Mitra placed two reports before the court as directed earlier. One was submitted by the Director General of Police, West Bengal, while the other came from the Commissioner of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate in connection with the investigation into the incident.
Biswas's lawyers told the court that the former minister had appeared before the police in response to summons on three occasions, in accordance with earlier directions.
The high court had granted Biswas interim protection on June 10 in a case filed by Satadru Dutta, the owner of the event management company that organised Messi's show.
At the time, the court noted that similar events featuring the Argentine football star had been conducted smoothly in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, while the failure of the Kolkata event had left a blot on the city's football-loving image.
The court had also directed the Bidhannagar Police Commissioner to conduct an independent inquiry into why the Dec. 13, 2025 event could not be organised properly and submit a report.
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Dutta has accused Biswas of extortion, criminal intimidation, abuse of official and political influence, and the illegal diversion, monetisation and sale of complimentary tickets for wrongful gain.
He alleged that Biswas forced him to hand over complimentary passes, accreditation cards and close-proximity passes, which were then wrongfully distributed for financial gain.
Dutta was arrested on Dec. 13 over alleged mismanagement of the event and remained in jail for more than a month before being granted bail on Jan. 19.
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