The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday served a third summons to Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in a case related to an alleged discrepancy in signatures of party MLAs in a letter submitted to the Speaker of the state Assembly.
The CID has issued a 24-hour deadline, directing the Diamond Harbour MP to appear before the investigators by 5 pm on Tuesday at the agency's Bhabani Bhavan headquarters in Kolkata.
The latest notice came after Banerjee skipped the previous two summonses, and notwithstanding his request for a postponement till an appeal before the Calcutta High Court in connection with the CID action, which is likely to be heard on June 10, is judicially resolved.
A team of eight CID officers, including women personnel, reached Banerjee's Kalighat residence in south Kolkata around 4.40 pm, hours after he missed the second appearance deadline at noon and on the day he attended the INDIA bloc meeting in New Delhi.
The officers recorded the service of notice on video after waiting for some time outside the closed gates of his residence, sources said.
The CID's attempts to question Banerjee have so far been met with repeated requests for postponement, with the TMC leader citing health reasons and later moving the High Court seeking protection from what he termed coercive action.
The case stems from a controversial letter submitted to the Assembly secretariat on May 19 nominating Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of the Opposition.
The document allegedly carried the signatures of around 70 TMC MLAs.
However, complaints by rebel legislators Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha alleged that some of the signatures on the communication had been forged, prompting an FIR and a CID probe.
As the party's national general secretary and as a signatory to the cover letter of the said document, Banerjee came under the scanner as investigators sought to establish how the document was prepared and submitted.
The first CID summons was served on May 30, directing Abhishek Banerjee to appear on June 1.
Instead of appearing, Banerjee cited the attack on him, which took place in Sonarpur on the outskirts of the city and informed the agency that he was unwell, requesting additional time.
Banerjee reportedly sought two week before presenting himself for questioning, citing health-related reasons and the need to recover before attending any examination.
CID officers returned to his residence and served a second notice on June 1, asking him to appear on June 8, curtailing his postponement request for a fortnight to a week.
Banerjee again declined to appear immediately.
This time, his legal team approached the high court, challenging the summons and seeking protection from any coercive action by the CID.
Ahead of the June 8 appearance date, Banerjee again sought more time, allegedly requesting that investigators extend deadline.
Amid an intensifying political heat over the alleged forgery of MLA signatures, the CID's decision to ignore Banerjee's last extension request and keep the appearance deadline tight indicated the urgency with which the sleuths plan to proceed with the probe and that it considers Banerjee as key to unearthing the truth behind the forgery allegations.
(With inputs from PTI)
