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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea by senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee against his questioning by the CBI in the teachers’ recruitment scam in West Bengal.
Banerjee, who was on May 20 questioned for over nine hours by the CBI in connection with the probe into the case, has sought the apex court direction that no coercive steps be taken against him by the agency.
The plea was mentioned by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi before the vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol.
Urging the bench to direct for “no coercive action”, the Senior Counsel said, “I’m being called on a daily basis while I am in Darjeeling. I’m asking for no coercive steps. He’s campaigning outside the state. Any date this week may be granted. Also concerning the costs imposed against him, we’re appealing that too.”
Considering Singhvi’s request the bench agreed to post the plea for Friday.
Banerjee’s name cropped up in a complaint filed by Kuntal Ghosh, a local businessman and an accused in the school jobs scam, where he alleged that central investigating agencies were pressuring him to name Banerjee, who is the national general secretary of the TMC, in the case.
Banerjee has approached the top court against the Calcutta High Court’s May 19th order by which Justice Amrita Sinha had dismissed his plea seeking a recall of an order passed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on April 13 which had granted probe agencies to interrogate Banerjee in the scam.
Laying emphasis on the fact that figures of the scam as unearthed to date made it crystal clear that several high-level, influential politically exposed persons were involved in the crime, the bench had said, “The act of the applicants in pressing the instant applications raises doubt in the mind of the Court that the same has been filed with mala fide intention to deter the investigating officers to follow through the process of investigation which has already opened up a box of worms with more to follow suit. The idea is to delay the entire process to the extent possible so that the real culprits can remain shielded. In fact, on account of filing the applications, neither the ED nor the CBI appear to have proceeded any further.”
Banerjee has also challenged Justice Sinha’s decision to impose a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on himself and Kuntal Ghosh for “wasting the court’s time.”
After his questioning was over on May 20, Banerjee had told the media persons that the questioning was a waste of time for both him and the investigative agency’s officers, but he “cooperated in all that was asked.”
Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had alleged that while TMC leaders who were unwilling to bend were being harassed, BJP leaders who had been involved in various cases were allowed to go scot-free.
The two-time TMC MP from Diamond Harbour was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) twice in the coal pilferage case in the agency’s office in the national capital in 2021 and also in Kolkata in 2022.
(With inputs from PTI)
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea by senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee against his questioning by the CBI in the teachers’ recruitment scam in West Bengal.
Banerjee, who was on May 20 questioned for over nine hours by the CBI in connection with the probe into the case, has sought the apex court direction that no coercive steps be taken against him by the agency.
The plea was mentioned by Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi before the vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sanjay Karol.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Urging the bench to direct for “no coercive action”, the Senior Counsel said, “I’m being called on a daily basis while I am in Darjeeling. I’m asking for no coercive steps. He’s campaigning outside the state. Any date this week may be granted. Also concerning the costs imposed against him, we’re appealing that too.”
Considering Singhvi’s request the bench agreed to post the plea for Friday.
Banerjee’s name cropped up in a complaint filed by Kuntal Ghosh, a local businessman and an accused in the school jobs scam, where he alleged that central investigating agencies were pressuring him to name Banerjee, who is the national general secretary of the TMC, in the case.
Banerjee has approached the top court against the Calcutta High Court’s May 19th order by which Justice Amrita Sinha had dismissed his plea seeking a recall of an order passed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on April 13 which had granted probe agencies to interrogate Banerjee in the scam.
Laying emphasis on the fact that figures of the scam as unearthed to date made it crystal clear that several high-level, influential politically exposed persons were involved in the crime, the bench had said, “The act of the applicants in pressing the instant applications raises doubt in the mind of the Court that the same has been filed with mala fide intention to deter the investigating officers to follow through the process of investigation which has already opened up a box of worms with more to follow suit. The idea is to delay the entire process to the extent possible so that the real culprits can remain shielded. In fact, on account of filing the applications, neither the ED nor the CBI appear to have proceeded any further.”
Banerjee has also challenged Justice Sinha’s decision to impose a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on himself and Kuntal Ghosh for “wasting the court’s time.”
After his questioning was over on May 20, Banerjee had told the media persons that the questioning was a waste of time for both him and the investigative agency’s officers, but he “cooperated in all that was asked.”
Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had alleged that while TMC leaders who were unwilling to bend were being harassed, BJP leaders who had been involved in various cases were allowed to go scot-free.
The two-time TMC MP from Diamond Harbour was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) twice in the coal pilferage case in the agency’s office in the national capital in 2021 and also in Kolkata in 2022.
(With inputs from PTI)
