The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted interim protection to Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in three cases registered against him, extending his protection until August 31.
The hearing came a day after the Supreme Court allowed Banerjee to travel abroad for three weeks for medical treatment, subject to certain conditions.
16 cases come up before High Court
A total of 16 cases against Banerjee came up before the High Court. He had already secured protection in 13 cases, while his lawyers approached the court seeking similar protection in the remaining three cases. The cases heard on Tuesday relate to complaints registered at Kalitala, Bishnupur and Bhabanipur police stations.
State opposes protection sought by Banerjee
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the state, opposed Banerjee’s plea and argued that he should have sought anticipatory bail instead of interim protection. Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya questioned the argument, observing that withdrawing the protection already granted in an earlier case would render the previous order meaningless. Raju countered that Banerjee was facing allegations of financial irregularities linked to illegal mining.
Judge questions timing of FIR registrations
The judge questioned whether the complaints had been filed by BJP leader Abhijit Das, popularly known as Bobby, who had contested elections against Banerjee.
Justice Bhattacharyya asked the parties to examine when the FIRs were registered and said the timing could be relevant while considering interim protection. The court also said it wanted to examine the progress of the investigation and made it clear that the police were free to continue their probe.
Raju argued that a delay in registering an FIR did not automatically entitle an accused to interim protection and maintained that Banerjee’s petition was not maintainable.
Lawyer alleges pressure to withdraw complaints
Advocate Jayanta Narayan Chattopadhyay, appearing for one of the complainants, argued that Banerjee was highly influential and should be interrogated in custody. He claimed that Banerjee had won the Bishnupur seat by around seven lakh votes, although the constituency did not have seven lakh voters. The lawyer further alleged that Banerjee continued to exert influence and that people were being pressured to withdraw complaints.
Amtala office demolition cited during hearing
Justice Bhattacharyya questioned the argument that Banerjee remained so influential, referring to the demolition of his party office in Amtala.
If he is still so influential, why was his office in Amtala demolished? Why did the court have to intervene?
the judge asked.
Advocate General Surjit Mitra responded that the property, which was demolished, did not belong to the entity named in the proceedings.
Judge flags delayed FIR registration concerns
Justice Bhattacharyya also questioned whether the complainants would have been able to take such action if the political circumstances had not changed. The judge observed that the court should not ignore the ground reality and noted that custodial interrogation could have been sought before May 4.
Interim protection extended until August 31
He further said that if FIRs were registered after a significant delay, the court would certainly examine the circumstances and could intervene where necessary. The judge also questioned what the difficulty would be if Banerjee were directed to cooperate with the investigation.
After hearing the arguments, the single-judge bench continued interim protection for Banerjee until August 31.
