Hours after the Supreme Court granted an interim stay, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee gets notice to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at 11 am on Tuesday in Kolkata’s Nizam palace.
The notice has been served, in the afternoon, to the firebrand TMC leader regarding the School Service Commission scam.
Interestingly, at around 11 am, the SC granted an interim stay on the orders of the Calcutta High Court, stating that the CBI can’t question Banerjee now about Kuntal Ghosh’s letter. The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for April 24.
Reacting to the CBI’s notice, Banerjee tweeted, “In its desperation to ‘harass’ and ‘target me, BJP EXPOSES CBI & ED to CONTEMPT OF COURT! SC stayed the Calcutta HC’s order in the morn that granted permission to the Central Agencies to summon me. Yet, the ‘SUMMON’ was HAND-DELIVERED today at 1:45 pm. Grave State of affairs!”
In its desperation to ‘harass’ and ‘target’ me, BJP EXPOSES CBI & ED to CONTEMPT OF COURT!
SC stayed the Calcutta HC’s order in the morn that granted permission to the Central Agencies to summon me.
Yet, the ‘SUMMON’ was HAND-DELIVERED today at 1:45 pm
Grave State of affairs! pic.twitter.com/p7wVT4Eycq
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) April 17, 2023
Sources from TMC told The New Indian that the CBI has asked Banerjee to appear before it even after a stay order granted by the apex court, which is nothing but contempt of court by the CBI.
Recently, Kuntal Ghosh, an expelled TMC leader, wrote a letter to the jail authority alleging that during interrogation pressure was put on him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to name influential persons like Abhishek Banerjee. Hastings police station has registered a general diary over Kuntal Ghosh’s allegations.
ED approached the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, challenging Ghosh’s complaint.
Former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by ED in July 2022 for his alleged involvement in the teacher recruitment scam. Later, his close aid Arpita Mukherjee, was also arrested.
Bengal BJP MP Dilip Ghosh told The New Indian, “Abhishek Banerjee mentioned me in one of the public rallies and they are trying to bring my name up. But my question is, how did he get to know this? How could he know that the people who are on trial are being questioned? The truth must come out.”