The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim protection from coercive action to Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee in connection with the CID’s investigation into the alleged forgery of signatures of party MLAs, while directing him to appear before the investigating agency by 6:00 PM on June 11.
The order was passed while hearing Banerjee’s challenge to the summons issued by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal. The Court directed the TMC leader to cooperate with the investigation and appear before the agency for questioning. At the same time, it protected him from any coercive action for a period of three weeks.
The controversy arises from a letter allegedly submitted to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Secretariat on May 19 concerning the appointment of senior TMC leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the party’s Leader of the Opposition. The letter purportedly carried the signatures of around 70 MLAs. Subsequently, allegations surfaced that several of those signatures had been forged, leading to the registration of a criminal case and a CID probe.
According to the CID, Abhishek Banerjee’s statement is crucial to the investigation because the disputed letter was allegedly issued on his letterhead as the party’s national general secretary. Investigators have claimed that handwriting samples were collected from legislators who denied signing the document and that they are attempting to trace the original records connected with the resolution.
Abhishek Banerjee had earlier been summoned by the CID on multiple occasions but did not appear, reportedly citing illness and his presence in Delhi. Thereafter, he approached the High Court seeking protection from coercive measures and challenging the summons issued by the investigating agency.
The investigation has also seen searches by the CID at the Trinamool Congress office in Kalighat, located within the residential complex of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as well as at Abhishek Banerjee’s office on Camac Street. The searches were conducted as part of efforts to locate documents connected with the allegedly forged signatures.
While granting interim relief, the High Court directed that he must cooperate with the ongoing investigation and present himself before the CID within the time stipulated by the Court.