A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court has extended interim protection for Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member, from coercive police action, including arrest, in the ongoing CID probe. The protection has been extended until July 17 in the case of signature mismatches of some Trinamool Congress legislators on crucial appointments in the West Bengal Assembly.
The CID initiated an investigation in May this year following complaints about alleged signature mismatches of certain Trinamool Congress MLAs on a resolution submitted to Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose. The document proposed appointments including Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of the Opposition and others to key positions in the Assembly.
Alleged discrepancies in signatures were raised by Trinamool Congress legislators Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, leading to their suspension by the party. This development sparked a revolt by 60 legislators, resulting in a new resolution being submitted by the officially recognized Leader of the Opposition, leading to a change in leadership within the Trinamool Legislative Party.
Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been questioned twice by CID sleuths and has pledged to cooperate further in the investigation process.
