The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday lifted the interim stay on an arrest warrant issued against Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee in a defamation case, dealing a setback to the party's national general secretary.
Justice Pramod Kumar Agarwal dismissed Banerjee's petition and vacated the stay granted in November 2025 on the execution of the warrant issued by a special MP-MLA court in Bhopal.
The defamation case was filed in 2021 by former Indore MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, son of senior BJP leader and minister Kailash Vijayvargiya. The complaint alleged that Banerjee had referred to Akash Vijayvargiya as a "goon" during a rally in Kolkata in November 2020.
Following the issuance of the arrest warrant by the MP-MLA court, Banerjee had moved the High Court, contending that he is a Member of Parliament and unlikely to abscond. Acting on the plea, the High Court had stayed the warrant's execution on November 12 last year.
During the hearing on Wednesday, no one appeared on behalf of the petitioner. Taking note of the absence, the court observed that it appeared the petitioner had lost interest in pursuing the matter.
The bench subsequently vacated the stay, dismissed the petition and directed that a copy of its order be sent to the Bhopal court.
The ruling is expected to add to Banerjee's legal challenges, as he is also facing an Enforcement Directorate investigation in a corruption case.
(With inputs from PTI)
