Kolkata: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, Monday, for the second time rejected the plea of Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, for a fast-track hearing on his petition seeking the court’s permission to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment.
To recall, June 23, Abhishek, the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, moved a petition at the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya seeking permission to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment.
Along with the petition seeking the court’s permission to travel abroad for seven days, a plea was also made for a fast-track hearing.
However, June 24, Justice Bhattacharya’s bench clearly stated that there was no reason to grant a fast-track hearing and also observed that the matter would come up for hearing in the normal course.
Monday, Abhishek’s counsel again approached the same single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya with the plea for a fast-track hearing in the matter. However, Justice Bhattacharya again rejected the plea and clearly said the matter will be heard as per the scheduled cause list.
In the recent past, following an order of another single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, the sleuths of the Criminal Investigation Department of the West Bengal Police questioned Abhishek twice in an ongoing CID probe into the signature-mismatch case. The case involved the signatures of some Trinamool Congress legislators on a crucial resolution on appointments for opposition positions in the West Bengal Assembly, which they claimed were forged.
Then, the single-judge bench of Justice Kaushik Chanda also granted Abhishek interim protection from coercive police action, including arrest in the matter, but under certain conditions, one of which was a bar on his overseas travel without prior court permission.
So, amid that restriction, Banerjee approached the bench of Justice Bhattacharya with a petition seeking permission for foreign travel for treatment purposes and a fast-track hearing in the matter.
In October 2016, Abhishek Banerjee was involved in an accident on his way back to Kolkata from a party programme in Murshidabad district. He suffered serious injuries to his eye in that accident. He first visited several hospitals in the country and later sought treatment abroad.
