News Analysis India

Tag: Abhishek Banerjee

  • Coal Scam: Delhi High Court exempts physical presence of Rujira Banerjee before trial court in ED case

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Monday exempted for the time being the physical appearance of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira Banerjee before a trial court in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.

    The trial court in Delhi had directed her to appear before it personally on October 12. The high court said it will hear on October 29, the plea filed by Rujira Banerjee challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s complaint filed in the case, the trial court order taking cognizance of that complaint and the subsequent issuance of a summons for physical appearance.

    Justice Yogesh Khanna granted Rujira Banerjee’s exemption from personal appeaCoal scamrance for the time being after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Enforcement Directorate, urged the court to take up her plea for hearing after the Dussehra break.

    “Till then, the lady client (Rujira) may not appear in person,” said the Solicitor General. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Rujira Banerjee, prayed that her client be allowed to appear through her lawyer before the trial court.

    “List on October 29. Meanwhile, the petitioner will appear before the trial court through counsel,” the judge ordered.

    On September 30, after she appeared virtually in relation to the complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma directed her physical presence on October 12, while granting her exemption from the personal appearance for the day.

    Rujira Banerjee has contended that the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s complaint against her is arbitrary, false, vexatious and an abuse of the process of law.

    The complaint has been filed to harass and cause prejudice to her and her family, the petition contended.

    “A bare perusal of the impugned complaint confirms that the respondent agency (ED) falsely averred that petitioner had not complied with its illegal summonses (issued by ED). Owing to the fact that she is a mother of two young children and a resident of Kolkata, the petitioner has repeatedly requested that she be examined at her residence in Kolkata.

    “The fact that the petitioner was in constant dialogue with the respondent in relation to the aforementioned summons clearly shows that there was no intention on the part of the petitioner to disobey the same,” the petition said.

    It further argued that the trial court took cognizance and issued a summons on the complaint in a mechanical manner and without application of mind.

    “The Ld. CMM failed to appreciate that not only were the notices in question illegal and in excess of jurisdiction, but furthermore the mode of service i.e., email to a third party, of summons dated 18.08.2021 at the first instance is contrary to law and cannot be held against the Petitioner,” it said.

    The couple has already approached the high court for quashing of summons issued to them by the ED for questioning in the case.

    On September 21, the court had refused to grant any interim relief in relation to the ED summons.

    The 33-year-old MP, who is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, represents the Diamond Harbour seat in Lok Sabha and is the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

    The ED lodged a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.

    Local coal operative Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case. The ED had earlier claimed that Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade. He has denied all charges.

  • TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira moves Delhi HC against ED complaint in coal scam case

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Rujira Banerjee, wife of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s complaint against her before a trial court here in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.

    Rujira has also challenged the trial court order taking cognizance of the complaint and the subsequent issuance of summons for physical appearance in the case.

    The matter, which was listed before Justice Yogesh Khanna on Wednesday but could not be taken up for hearing on account of the non-availability of the judge, will be heard on October 8.

    Rujira has contended in her petition that the ED’s complaint against her is arbitrary, false, vexatious and an abuse of the process of law.

    The complaint has been filed to harass and cause prejudice to Rujira and her family, the petition claims.

    “A bare perusal of the Impugned Complaint confirms that the Respondent Agency (ED) falsely averred that Petitioner had not complied with its illegal summonses (issued by ED).

    “Owing to the fact that she is a mother of two young children and a resident of Kolkata, the Petitioner has repeatedly requested that she be examined at her residence in Kolkata.

    The fact that the Petitioner was in constant dialogue with the Respondent in relation to the aforementioned summons clearly shows that there was no intention on the part of the Petitioner to disobey the same,” says the petition.

    It further argues that the trial court took cognizance and issued summons on the complaint in a mechanical manner and without application of mind.

    The CMM “failed to appreciate that not only were the notices in question illegal and in excess of jurisdiction, but furthermore the mode of service i.e, email to a third party, of summons dated 18.08.2021 at the first instance is contrary to law and cannot be held against the Petitioner”, states the plea.

    On September 30, after Rujira appeared virtually in relation to the complaint filed by the ED, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Pankaj Sharma directed her physical presence on October 12, while granting her exemption from the personal appearance for the day.

    The couple has already approached the high court for quashing of summons issued to them by the ED for questioning in the case.

    On September 21, the court had refused to grant any interim relief in relation to the summons.

    The 33-year-old MP, who is the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, represents the Diamond Harbour seat in Lok Sabha and is the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

    The ED lodged a case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of a November 2020 FIR registered by the CBI that alleged a multi-crore coal pilferage scam related to Eastern Coalfields Ltd mines in the state’s Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol.

    Local coal operative Anup Majhi alias Lala is alleged to be the prime suspect in the case.

    The ED had earlier claimed that Abhishek Banerjee was a beneficiary of funds obtained from this illegal trade.

    He has denied all charges.

  • Congress needs to hit the streets, shed ‘idle, armchair politics’: Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday advised the Congress to hit the streets against the BJP, instead of sitting idle and indulging in “armchair politics”.

    The advice comes days after the young TMC Turk criticised the Congress for allegedly failing to put up a credible fight against the saffron camp.

    Banerjee was speaking at a function where former Congress chief minister of Goa Luizinho Faleiro joined the TMC here.

    It also happened on a day when disgruntled former Congress chief minister of Punjab Capt Amarinder Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah amid speculation of his political intentions.

    “The Congress is sitting idle in Delhi. They need to hit the streets like the TMC and reach out to the people. The Congress has to leave its armchair politics and social media politics.

    “The TMC is not going to be cowed down. We will take the BJP head-on and defeat them,” the Diamond Harbour MP told the press conference.

    Asked whether or not his regular attacks on the Congress would weaken opposition unity, Banerjee said the TMC couldn’t be blamed for putting up a fight against the BJP.

    “Our fight is not against the Congress. Our fight is to save India, and for that, it is essential to defeat the BJP. In the last seven years, the Congress has faced defeat at the hands of the BJP several times. It has been the TMC that has completely routed the BJP,” the nephew of Mamata Banerjee said.

    The bonhomie between the Congress and the TMC was strained recently after the latter’s mouthpiece, “Jago Bangla,” claimed that party supremo Mamata Banerjee, and not Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has emerged as the face of the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

  • Former Goa CM Luizinho Falerio, 9 others join TMC in Kolkata

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: Former Goa CM and seven-term Congress MLA Luizinho Falerio on Wednesday joined the TMC in Kolkata along with nine others, including four Congress functionaries, a former MLA from MGP, and a Sahitya Academy award winner. 

    The mega induction ahead of the Goa Assembly elections slated to be held next year took place in presence of TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee who announced that the Bengal’s ruling party would enter the fray alone in the western state. 

    Asked if TMC would enter into an alliance with AAP as the time is short, Banerjee said, “In Goa, TMC is going to fight the upcoming election by itself. Hope this puts a rest to all speculations.”

    Pointing out that the TMC is emerging as BJP’s main opposition, the second-in-command in Bengal’s ruling party said, “Our fight is against the BJP and not the Congress. The difference between Congress and TMC is that we have been defeating the BJP for the last seven years. Congress cannot be sitting idle. They have to hit the streets. We will not be cowed down take the BJP head-on.”   

    Falerio tendered his resignation two days ago. “My political journey began 40 years ago from the western part of the state and now it has reached the coastal area in the east,” he said after joining the TMC. The former Goa CM arrived in Kolkata on Tuesday and before joining Bengal’s ruling party, he held an hour-long meeting with CM Mamata Banerjee at the secretariat. 

    Other than Falerio, former MGP MLA Lavoo Mamledar, two Congress general secretaries Yatish Naik and Vijay Vasudev Poi, two Congress secretaries Mario Pinto De Santana and Anand Naik, Sahitya Academy Award winner Shivdas Sonu Naik, former state youth wing vice president of Congress Rabindranath Falerio, environmentalist Rajemdra Shivdaji Kakodkar and prominent lawyer Antonio Monterio Clovis Da Costa joined the TMC. 

    “Today in presence of @MamataOfficial, EX Goa CM & 7-term Congress MLA @luzinhofalerio joined Trinamool Congress. He’d called for a CREDIBLE ALTERNATIVE for Goans & we’re pleased that he has chosen Mamata Banerjee’s leadership to work towards bringing a #NewDawn for Goa,” TMC tweeted.

  • Congress must shed ‘armchair politics’, hit the streets against BJP: TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday advised the Congress to hit the streets against the BJP, instead of indulging in “armchair politics”. The advice comes days after the young TMC Turk criticised the Congress for allegedly failing to put up a credible fight against the saffron camp.

    If the Congress cannot fight the BJP, the TMC will do it and defeat the saffron party, Banerjee said. “The Congress has to leave its armchair politics and social media politics and hit the streets,” he said.

    The bonhomie between the Congress and the TMC was strained recently after the latter’s mouthpiece “Jago Bangla” claimed that party supremo Mamata Banerjee, and not Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, has emerged as the face of the opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

  • Get ready, Trinamool Congress is going to Goa: Abhishek Banerjee

    By ANI

    KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday said the party will explore political opportunities outside West Bengal and will enter the poll scene in Goa in the coming days.

    Addressing a public meeting in Bhabanipur, Banerjee said, “This election is not only to vote for Mamata Banerjee. See the condition of India. There are five or six national parties but among those only TMC has the courage to fight on the street and take the issues forward. It is not just for Bhabanipur, you are giving your verdict for Delhi. People will give votes for TMC to bring changes in Delhi.”

    Bhabanipur bypoll, scheduled on September 30 has become a prestige battle for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is presently not an MLA. Notably, Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the Nandigram constituency in the Assembly elections held earlier this year.

    Following this, the Bhabanipur Assembly seat was vacated by the West Bengal Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in May, making way for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contest from Bhabanipur seat as a move to continue to hold her post.

    The Diamond Harbour MP said not only in West Bengal, but TMC will also register a victory in other states in the coming days

    “We have already started work in Tripura and Assam. Get ready…In the coming days, TMC is going to Goa. I will go to UP, Haryana and Gujarat. You (BJP) cannot stop us. With the image of Mamata Banerjee, we will fight and take you out of Delhi,” he said.

    The TMC leader alleged that BJP-ruled centre is using the central agencies to scare the political opponents.

    “BJP is not able to fight politically with TMC. So they are bringing agencies to intimidate us. They have sent me five ED notice… If they send me 50 such notices still I will not bow down my head,” Banerjee added.

    Meanwhile, sources said that former Goa Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Luizinho Faleiro will join the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday. He is likely to hold a press conference today where he may announce his departure from the party.

    Assembly elections in Goa are due early next year.

  • BJP leaders queuing up outside TMC office, says MP Abhishek Banerjee

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Amid a series of defections from the TMC to the BJP in West Bengal, the national general secretary of the state’s ruling party, Abhishek Banerjee, on Thursday said if his organisation keeps its door ajar, the saffron camp will collapse in no time.

    Addressing a rally at Murshidabad district’s Samserganj constituency, where polls are set to be held on September 30, Banerjee claimed that BJP leaders, mostly MLAs, have been queuing up before the TMC office, the doors of which are shut.

    “We have kept the doors closed.If the doors are opened, the BJP will surely collapse,” he said.

    The Diamond Harbour MP further said that the Mamata Banerjee-led party, during the March-April Assembly polls, had driven “outsiders” away, and it would do so again in the upcoming polls.

    The TMC has often referred to the BJP as a “party of outsiders”.

    “These outsiders need to be taught a lesson again. The saffron party will be defeated in the upcoming elections. Wherever the BJP is in power, we will go there and dislodge the party,” he asserted.

    The MP also alleged that the BJP government in Tripura has imposed restrictions under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to stop him from holding rallies in the neighbouring state.

    “How long will the order be in force in Tripura? The TMC will register victory in Tripura for sure.

    People will see what the TMC is capable of achieving in the next three months,” he added.

    Assembly polls are scheduled to be held in Tripura in early 2023.

    The TMC has fielded Amirul Islam from Samserganj seat, where polls were earlier countermanded following the death of Congress candidate Rezaul Haque.

  • Abhishek Banerjee should go on nationwide Yatra to learn how to behave with Opposition: Bengal BJP chief

    By ANI

    KOLKATA: Taking a dig at Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over his Padyatra in Tripura, newly-appointed president of West Bengal BJP Sukanta Majumdar on Tuesday said Banerjee needs to walk across the country to learn how to behave with the Opposition.

    TMC is looking to expand its footprint in the northeast and in line with this the party had planned a padyatra led by Abhishek Bannerjee in Tripura. However, the Padytra has not been held so far as permission has not been given by the administration.

    When asked about Abhishek Banerjee’s Padyatra, Majumdar said, “Abhishek Banerjee must go on a yatra across the country so that he can learn how to behave with the Opposition.”

    Briefing media persons, Majumdar said, “From 3 to 77 is itself a huge success in Bengal. However, there might be something missing in the strategy that we could not win the elections. Some of the seats we lost by a very small margin.”

    Former West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said the party has taken a far-sighted decision by giving responsibility to Sukanta Majumdar.

    Speaking to media persons, Ghosh said, “I have more experience so the party has given me a bigger responsibility. I held a meeting with the party national president after the polls and told him about my duties. My mission is now half complete.”

    “When we started five years ago, things in Bengal were different. No one even uttered BJP’s name. Now it has become the main opposition party. Our power is equal to TMC. I think the party has taken a far-sighted decision by giving such responsibility to Sukanta babu,” he added.

    BJP national President, Jagat Prakash Nadda on Monday appointed Dr Sukanta Majumdar as the State party president for the West Bengal unit. 

  • TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, wife move Delhi High Court against Enforcement Directorate

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira on Friday filed a petition before the Delhi High Court, seeking quashing of summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its investigation into an alleged coal scam.

    They prayed for a direction to the ED that they may be examined at Kolkata, stating that the case pertains to West Bengal.

    Claiming that the ED probe is based on a case registered by CBI with respect of offences allegedly having taken place in West Bengal, the TMC’s national general secretary and his wife petitioned the high court seeking quashing of summons by the ED.

    Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a Lok Sabha MP, appeared before the ED on September 6 in New Delhi on a summons by the agency.

    He was summoned by the ED again on September 21 in New Delhi after he did not visit the agency’s office at the national capital on a summons for September 8, saying that he was unable to travel at a short notice.

    Rujira Banerjee, who had also been summoned by the agency in the first week of September, did not go as well, writing to the ED that being a mother, she cannot travel at such short notice and requested the agency to interview her at her residence in Kolkata.

  • Delhi HC to hear on September 21 ED’s plea against notices issued by West Bengal police

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it will hear on September 21 Enforcement Directorate’s challenge to the notices issued to its officers by the West Bengal police pursuant to an FIR by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is under the agency’s scanner in an alleged coal pilferage scam.

    Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for ED, contended before Justice Yogesh Khanna that the notices are patently illegal, malafide and a “counter blast” to the investigation in the case.

    ED has sought a direction to quash the two notices and any other subsequent notices that may be issued in the FIR, saying that they amount to abuse of process of law and also to derail the probe in the coal pilferage scam.

    “The notices will not stand scrutiny even for a minute,” Raju told the judge who deferred hearing on the petition, saying that the senior counsel for West Bengal will “take care” of the notices issued to the ED officers on July 22 and August 21.

    “Once they are saying there is no other notice, we can fix (the plea for hearing) on Friday or Monday. Mr. (Sidharth) Luthra (appearing for West Bengal) will take care of it,” said the judge after taking note of Luthra’s submission.

    “I don’t think there will be a problem. Mr Raju, take it from me,” said Luthra who also contended that the legal view was against the ED.

    The probe agency submitted in its petition that in order to pressurize its officers probing an illegal coal mining case in exercise of its statutory powers under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Banerjee, who is the nephew of chief minister Mamta Banerjee, lodged an FIR in April.

    The FIR was lodged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code for alleged commission of offences of forgery of records, forgery for purpose of harming reputation, defamation etc.

    The petition filed through Central government standing counsel Amit Mahajan said that two notices were issued by the Sub Inspector, Special Cell (GS), DD of Kalighat Police Station, Kolkata to Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers performing their statutory functions in the Headquarters in Delhi.

    “It is pertinent to mention that the Investigation into the illegal coal mining and the role of the complainant therein Abhishek Banerjee is being investigated by the Directorate of Enforcement in exercise of its statutory powers under PMLA in the Headquarters at New Delhi,” the plea said.

    “In order to pressurize the Petitioners/ IOs investigating the case related to illegal coal mining, Abhishek Banerjee lodged an FIR on date 05.04.2021 , against a News Channel and in furtherance of the same, notices have been issued to the IOs investigating the case of illegal coal mining by the West Bengal Police. The said FIR has been registered with a malafide intention to derail the investigation under PMLA being conducted by the Directorate of Enforcement,” the plea said.

    The petition alleged that the ‘West Bengal Police is acting at his (Banerjee’s) behest to derail the investigation being carried out by Enforcement Directorate’ and the motive behind registration of the FIR and the subsequent issuance of notices is only to harass the ED officers.