ED summons Abhishek Banerjee to appear before it on Nov 9

Earlier, the ED had summoned Banerjee, the TMC MP from the Diamond Harbour constituency in South 24 Pargana district, on October 9 after he skipped the October 3 summons to participate in a TMC protest rally in New Delhi, demanding the immediate release of central funds due to the state.

On October 10, following a court order, Banerjee had sent a report on his properties to the ED. “ED gave a birthday gift to Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday night. Trinamool Congress is the main target of the BJP. BJP does such vendetta politics to harass leaders ahead of the crucial election early next year,” she said.

“No notice was given to those in BJP whose wealth has increased. Every day politically motivated harassment is being done in the name of investigation. During the Durga Puja, a minister was summoned and sent to jail. Now on Kali Puja, they have summoned Abhishek again,” Panja alleged.

“This investigation has no end. Abhishek will answer all questions. He is a public representative. He has income tax files. All these are in the public domain. As the (LS) elections are approaching, attempts are being made to keep him away from campaigning. They are tarnishing the image of the Trinamool Congress and Bengal. This has been going on ever since the BJP’s defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections,” Panja added.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumder said, “He cannot be summoned on his campaign days; he cannot be summoned on his birthday; so, it’s better if Sashi Panja tells us on which days ED can summon him. Why is he so afraid of investigation if he is not guilty?”

State BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said, “BJP does not believe in vendetta politics. Summoning by central agencies is happening under the supervision of the court, and if the TMC has any problem, it can approach the court.”

Banerjee, who was questioned by the ED for nearly nine hours in the teacher recruitment scam on September 13, had then claimed that the interrogation was an attempt to prevent him from participating in the INDIA bloc meet, and was a testament to the pivotal role the TMC plays in forging opposition unity.

The two-time TMC MP had also been questioned by the ED twice in the coal pilferage case, once in the agency’s office in the national capital in 2021 and again in Kolkata in 2022.

The Calcutta High Court On October 5 suggested to the central investigating agency Banerjee can be called for questioning only if the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is not satisfied with the information in the documents sent by the TMC MP.

However, the division bench did not give any stay on a single-judge bench order instructing the ED chief to ensure that inquiry in the teacher recruitment scam case was not hampered. —With PTI Inputs