Calcutta High Court relief for Abhishek Banerjee

The Calcutta High Court has directed police not to take any coercive action against Trinamool Congress MP and nephew of former chief minister Mamata Banerjee until the next hearing on 6 August. Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya passed the order on Thursday, 30 July. 

Senior counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Banerjee, told the court, "There are 11 complaints in all. Further FIRs were registered even after we filed this petition. After 4 May, when the results were declared, a host of complaints were filed." Referring to one of the FIRs based on Banerjee's social media post, he said "he posted a tweet saying 'Bangla birodhi Gujarati gang'. Not all Gujaratis, only Bangla birodhi... usual political rhetoric and the use of the word 'gang' cannot be criminalised."

He also submitted that seven FIRs had been initiated by a political rival who had twice lost elections against Banerjee. The senior counsel went on to highlight what he described as a series of delayed and politically motivated complaints. He referred to the FIR concerning Banerjee's alleged 'DJ speech', pointing out that though the incident allegedly took place in April, the FIR was registered only after the election results were declared on 4 May.

He similarly referred to complaints relating to alleged illegal mining since 2017, alleged irregularities concerning cyclone relief funds dating back to 2020, and another complaint concerning a private initiative from 2023, arguing that none of them explained the extraordinary delay in registration. 

"We do not have copies of all the FIRs lodged at various police stations across the state. We have mentioned those that are available to us, but we lack complete information on all of them," he submitted while requesting interim protection. The court noted that only three FIRs had been fully placed before it and therefore confined its interim order to those specific cases.

The court expressed concern about the increasing number of cases. "if cases are filed one after another in this manner, the number of cases will increase, and the court's time will be wasted," Justice Bhattacharyya remarked.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta argued that Banerjee should seek anticipatory bail if he feared arrest rather than requesting what he described as special treatment through a writ petition. Additional solicitor-general S.V. Raju argued that the law does not permit multiple FIRs to be challenged through a single petition and maintained that separate petitions should be filed for each case. Raju also rejected the argument that delayed FIRs were invalid. "What is the issue with registering an FIR based on an old complaint? It is possible that an FIR was not filed earlier due to political influence," he argued.

Banerjee has separately approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to travel abroad for specialised eye treatment. He informed the apex court that he has fully cooperated with the investigation, including providing voice samples as directed.

However, the Calcutta High Court had earlier declined to permit his proposed visit to the United States for treatment and instead directed him to undergo examination at Kolkata's SSKM Hospital before any decision on foreign travel was taken. During those proceedings, the high court observed that several reputed hospitals were available in Kolkata and even indicated that it could direct the formation of a medical board at SSKM Hospital if required.