CBI keeps Monday’s notice to Abhishek in abeyance

Abhishek Banerjee, TMC national general secretary [Photo:SNS]


The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday sent a fresh communication to Trinamul Congress national general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee informing that its earlier notice to him has been kept in abeyance till further orders from the Supreme Court.

On Monday, the CBI sent a notice to Banerjee directing him to be present at the agency’s Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata for questioning on the allegations levelled by expelled youth Trinamul Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh.

The notice reached the Trinamul leader a couple of hours after the Supreme Court stayed a Calcutta High Court order permitting the CBI and ED to question till 24 April. Tweeting the Monday’s communication from CBI, Banerjee accused BJP of being desperate to “target” and “harass” him and alleged that the party has exposed CBI and ED to contempt of court.

On Tuesday, the office of the superintendent of the anti-corruption branch of CBI at Nizam Palace in Kolkata made a fresh communication to Banerjee informing him about the Monday’s notice being kept in abeyance until the further order from the apex court of the country. On 13 April 13, Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench permitted the CBI and ED to question Banerjee over the allegations levelled by expelled youth Trinamul leader Kuntal Ghosh that the central agencies are putting pressure on him to name Banerjee in the multi-crore teachers’ recruitment scam in West Bengal.

Banerjee challenged the order at the apex court. On Monday morning, the Supreme Court’s division Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stayed the high court’s 13 April order till 24 April, when the top court will take up Banerjee’s plea.