Bengal court issues fresh summons to Abhishek Banerjee for collection of voice samples

Kolkata, July 1 (IANS) A district court in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal, on Wednesday issued a notice to Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, to be present at the court so that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths can collect his voice samples in a case where he is accused of making violence-inciting statements and threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah at a campaign rally.

In the fresh summons issued on Wednesday, Abhishek, the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was asked to present at the same district court on July 8, so that the CID sleuths could collect his voice samples in the presence of the judicial magistrate and forensic experts.

On Wednesday, the Judicial Magistrate of Bidhannagar Court at Salt Lake in North 24 Parganas district directed the Diamond Harbour MP to be present at the court by 10 a.m. on July 8.

Abhishek was scheduled to be present before the district court on Tuesday for the same purpose. However, he did not turn up at the district court on Tuesday because of a parallel hearing in a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on his petition challenging the district court’s earlier order relating to the collection of his voice samples.

However, on Tuesday, the single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh refused to entertain his plea for relief from the collection of voice samples and also 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 himself from further hearing in the matter.

The matter was then 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 and directed the CID to inform the court if the Trinamool Congress general secretary did not extend necessary cooperation in the probe.

–IANS

src/dpb