Kolkata: Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the party’s Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha MP, Abhishek Banerjee Monday approached a single-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court challenging the move by the bank authorities to freeze his bank account just before his scheduled tour to the US for ophthalmic treatment as permitted to him by the Supreme Court.
Ayan Bhattacharya, the counsel of Abhishek who is the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, filed a petition in the matter at the single-judge Bench of Justice Krishan Rao.
In his petition, Abhishek’s counsel had claimed that debit restrictions have been imposed on the bank account of his client just before his trip abroad for eye treatment. The counsel of the Diamond Harbour MP also claimed that the bank authorities did not inform his client about the reason for freezing the account.
Abhishek’s counsel also pleaded for an urgent hearing in the matter. He questioned how the bank authorities could freeze the bank account of an individual without invoking Section 107 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
He pointed out that according to that Section, the police have to first apply to the concerned magistrate to freeze the account. But in this case, Abhishek’s lawyer argued, this procedure was not followed.
Justice Rao admitted the petition and questioned whether any investigation was going on against Abhishek. In response, Abhishek’s lawyer said that his client was cooperating with the investigation process as per the court’s order and the matter had nothing to do with the freezing of the bank account.
Thereafter, Justice Rao ordered the serving of notice to all parties concerned in the matter. The matter will come up for hearing August 19.
Last week, the Supreme Court’s Division Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI), Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana allowed Abhishek to travel abroad for three weeks for medical treatment of his eye, setting aside the Calcutta High Court’s refusal to relax the restriction on his foreign travel.
However, the permission was subject to certain conditions, including that he would travel only on his diplomatic passport and share his itinerary and place of stay abroad with the investigating agency.
