Calcutta HC Denies Permission to Abhishek Banerjee to Travel Abroad for Eye Treatment

KOLKATA:
A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday denied permission to the Trinamool Congress’ general secretary and the party’s Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment.

After a hearing in the matter, the single-judge bench of Justice Sougata Bhattacharya observed that he had earlier advised Banerjee to first consult experts from the state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, and on the basis of that report from the hospital, the court would take a decision in the matter.

However, since Banerjee’s counsel informed the court that his client would not go to S.S.K.M in the matter, Justice Bhattacharya not only denied permission to the Diamond Harbour MP to travel abroad for eye treatment but also dismissed the entire case filed by the latter.

After Justice Bhattacharya in the previous hearing on July 20 advised Banerjee to first consult experts from S.S.K.M., the Trinamool MP approached the Supreme Court seeking the same permission. However, the apex court’s three-judge division bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Venkita Subramani Mohan, last week, referred the matter to the Calcutta High Court.

The apex court also directed the Calcutta High Court to make a decision in the matter within seven days. Accordingly, Justice Bhattacharya had fixed 11 a.m. on Wednesday as the time for hearing in the matter. Accordingly, the matter was heard this morning, and after the hearing, Justice Bhattacharya denied the necessary permission to travel abroad and also dismissed the case.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Banerjee’s counsel Rebecca Mammen John argued in court about the need for him to travel abroad for eye treatment. She argued that earlier her client was allowed to travel abroad in an Enforcement Directorate (ED)- registered case against him.

However, West Bengal’s Additional Advocate General, Rajdeep Majumdar, objected to this line of argument, mentioning that the Diamond Harbour MP was not an accused then in the ED-registered case.

He maintained that the state now had objections to his travel abroad considering so many ongoing cases against him where he is an accused. Majumdar also argued that if the Diamond Harbour MP is now permitted to travel abroad, the ongoing probes against him might be affected.