Calcutta HC refuses to intervene on Abhishek Banerjee’s plea for exemption in voice sample case

Kolkata, June 30 (IANS) Calcutta High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain the plea of Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee for exemption from the move by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to collect his voice samples in the case where he is accused of making violence-inciting statements and threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a campaign rally.

The CID initiated the collection of voice samples from Abhishek, the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, following an order from a district court in North 24 Parganas district.

He was supposed to appear at the same court on Tuesday to give his voice samples, which were supposed to be collected in the presence of the judicial magistrate of the same district court and forensic experts.

However, the Trinamool Congress general secretary approached the Calcutta High Court challenging the CID’s move on this count. The matter came up for hearing at the single-judge bench of Justice Trithankar Ghosh on Tuesday. However, Justice Ghosh refused to entertain Abhishek’s plea.

Justice Ghosh observed that when Abhishek had already been granted interim protection from coercive police action, including arrest in the main case by another single-judge bench of the same court, there was no need for fresh protection from submitting voice samples in this case.

Justice Ghosh also observed that the court could not dictate to any investigating agency which line of investigation the latter should follow. Thereafter, Justice Ghosh announced his decision to recuse from further hearing in the matter.

The matter was referred to the Calcutta High Court’s Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, who will now decide which new bench will hear it.

Abhishek was earlier granted interim protection against coercive police action, including arrest, by the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya.

However, Justice Bhattacharya’s bench also directed Abhishek to fully cooperate with the investigating agency in the matter and directed the CID to inform the court if the Trinamool Congress general secretary did not extend necessary cooperation in the probe process.

During the hearing at Justice Ghosh’s bench on Tuesday, Abhishek’s counsel argued that the collection of voice samples was not necessary when his client had accepted saying such things at a campaign rally before the assembly polls.

Thereafter, Justice Ghosh observed that it was for the investigating agency to decide what was necessary and what was not in the course of the probe, and that the court could not dictate to the investigating agency which line of investigation should be followed.

–IANS

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