A district court in West Bengal has summoned Abhishek Banerjee, a Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member, to provide his voice samples. The court issued a notice for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to collect his voice samples due to allegations of inciting violence and threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a campaign rally. Abhishek has been asked to appear at the court on July 8 for this purpose.
The Judicial Magistrate of Bidhannagar Court directed Abhishek Banerjee to be present at the court by 10 a.m. on July 8. Despite being scheduled to appear on Tuesday, he missed the court date due to another hearing at the Calcutta High Court challenging the district court’s previous order on collecting his voice samples. The High Court refused to grant him relief from providing voice samples, citing his existing interim protection from coercive police action.
Abhishek Banerjee was previously granted interim protection against arrest by the Calcutta High Court. However, the court emphasized that he must cooperate fully with the CID’s investigation. The court also instructed the CID to report any lack of cooperation from the Trinamool Congress general secretary during the probe. The case has now been referred to the Acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court for further proceedings.
