Court Orders Continued Protection for Abhishek Banerjee Amid Signature Row

The Calcutta High Court, sitting in a single‑judge capacity, has extended the temporary protection accorded to Trinamool Congress senior leader Abhishek Banerjee up to July 17. This move comes as the CID probes allegations of forged or irregular signatures by Trinamool legislators on a crucial Assembly resolution.

The resolution, presented by Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose, proposed the appointment of Subrata Chattopadhyay as opposition leader, Asima Patra and Nayana Banerjee as deputy opposition leaders, and Farhad Haque as chief whip of the party’s legislators. The opposition‑reserved seats raised eyebrows when certain signatures appeared inconsistent.

The issue was initially brought to light by legislators Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandeep Saha, leading the CID to commence a formal investigation earlier this year. In the wake of the accusations, the Trinamool party suspended both legislators.

Following these events, a group of around 60 MLAs, asserting they represented the legitimate opposition, staged a rebellion and submitted a fresh proposal. The Assembly accepted this new motion, formally naming Ritabrata Banerjee as the opposition leader.

Later, the dissenting faction approached the Election Commission’s full bench, asserting their entitlement to the party’s name and election symbol. CID officers have interrogated Abhishek Banerjee twice at the party’s Bhawanipore headquarters, where he affirmed his willingness to collaborate with the ongoing enquiry.

Justice Supriya Ghosh directed Banerjee to cooperate fully with the CID’s investigation and maintained the interim security order until July 17.