Calcutta High Court Rejects Abhishek Banerjee's Plea to Travel to USA for Eye Treatment

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday rejected an immediate hearing plea from Trinamool Congress leader and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee seeking permission for travel to the USA for a week to undergo eye treatment. Abhishek had suffered a serious eye injury following an accident along the Durgapur Expressway in Hooghly district in 2016, and since then, he has been under treatment regularly. Justice Sougata Bhattacharyya in the High Court on Wednesday said, "The matter will be heard when it comes in the list of hearings of cases following the usual process." Abhishek has been facing a series of interrogations by the West Bengal and Central investigating agencies in cases linked to alleged signature forgery of the party MLAs in the Assembly, provocative speeches related to the ‘DJ’ music issue and the primary teachers’ recruitment scam. His appeal to the court has created a row in Bengal politics, particularly against the backdrop when the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) under the West Bengal Police has already grilled him for hours on three separate days since June 11 at its headquarters, Bhabani Bhaban in the city. CID officials questioned him on signature forgery cases of several party MLAs over the party's choice of Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and the ‘DJ’ music issue.