KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday moved the Calcutta HC for temporary relaxation of restrictions on his foreign travel.
The Diamond Harbour MP and nephew of former CM Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek, filed a petition before a bench of Justice Sougata Bhattacharyya seeking permission for a week’s travel abroad to undergo eye treatment abroad.
Abhishek has been subjected to many interrogations by the Bengal and Central investigating agencies in connection with cases, including alleged signature forgery of the party MLAs in the assembly, provocative speeches related to the ‘DJ’ music issue, and the primary teachers recruitment scam.
According to the appeal, the senior TMC MP needs to travel overseas for a week to undergo treatment for an eye condition. A hearing is expected later this week. He had suffered an eye injury following an accident along the Durgapur Expressway in the Hooghly district in 2016, and since then he has been under treatment regularly.
His court appeal has triggered a row in the state politics particularly against the backdrop of the CID already grilling him for hours on three days since June 11 at its headquarters Bhabani Bhaban in the city.
The CID officials questioned him over the “forging” of signatures of party MLAs on the party’s choice of LoP in the assembly and the ‘DJ’ music issue. The ED grilled him for more than 11 hours at the CGO Complex office to explore his alleged connection to the primary teachers’ recruitment scam in the state.
‘Case over call to violence’
In one of the speeches, Abhishek said DJ music would replace Rabindra sangeet after the May 4 election results, a comment that critics construed as a call to violence. A case was drawn up after one Rajib Sarkar lodged a complaint at Baguiati police station on May 5 and later with the cybercrime department of Bidhannagar police station
