Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's lawyer on Monday served a legal notice on state-run SSKM Hospital and the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences over the alleged disclosure of her medical records from 2021 without her consent, a state health department source said.
The notice, sent by lawyer Arka Nag via email to the director and medical superintendent of SSKM Hospital and the head of the neurology department at Bangur Institute, sought an explanation on how Banerjee's medical records reached West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and were subsequently made public.
A copy of the notice was also sent to the principal secretary of the state health department.
The move comes days after Adhikari claimed that she had faked her leg injury during the 2021 Assembly election campaign in Nandigram. At a press conference, he displayed a document purportedly to be a March 11, 2021, radiology report from the Bangur Institute, which he said showed no evidence of a fracture.
Adhikari had also announced that the state government would initiate a fresh inquiry into Banerjee's "false claims" of a leg injury during the election campaign.
The legal notice refers to Adhikari's statements on October 3 and contends that even if the medical records were obtained lawfully by the state government or an investigating agency, this did not authorise their disclosure to the public.
It also asks whether the records were disclosed pursuant to any court order and, if not, what action was taken against those who supplied the documents. The notice further seeks clarification on whether the documents made public were the original medical records.
The controversy dates back to the 2021 Assembly election, when Banerjee, then chief minister and the Trinamool Congress candidate from Nandigram, suffered injuries near Birulia Bazar while campaigning.
She subsequently campaigned in a wheelchair, with the nature and extent of her injuries becoming a major political issue during the election.
(With inputs from PTI)
