The high court on Thursday asked Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to submit papers related to the company Leaps and Bounds to the Enforcement Directorate by October 10 and asked the agency to call him for interrogation if they were dissatisfied with the documents.
“If he (Banerjee) fails to submit the required documents, as demanded by the agency, the Enforcement Directorate would have the
right to ask him to appear before it to face interrogation,” said Justice Soumen Sen, the senior judge on the division bench that was hearing the matter.
The bench included Justice Uday Kumar.
On Wednesday, the judge had proposed that the agency give Banerjee time till October 12 for submission of the documents and call him for interrogation only if they were dissatisfied with them. The court had asked Banerjee to furnish all the documents that the ED had sought.
On Thursday, Justice Sen brought the deadline forward to October 10. “Enough time has been provided. Ask your client to not make any delay in the submission of the papers,” Justice Sen told Banerjee’s counsel.
The bench asked the agency to call Banerjee either before October 19 or after October 26, apparently keeping the Durga Puja dates in mind. This year, Panchami is on October 19 and Vijaya Dashami on October 24.
On Wednesday, Justice Sen had asked the ED’s counsel, Dhiraj Trivedi, to consult his client about the court’s proposal and appear before the bench on Thursday.
Trivedi submitted before the bench on Thursday: “Considering the gravity of the crime relating to the irregularities in school teacher recruitment and involvement of a huge amount of illegal money, properties and ornaments,
the court should allow the agency the right to examine Banerjee face to face on October 9.”
Opposing the prayer, Banerjee’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “Before the court, every petitioner has the right to seek protection of his right. The move taken by the agency is more political. Even though they have no documents to prove that my client is involved in the case, they have been repeatedly calling him only to harass him.”
Justice Sen asked the agency whether it had enough documents to summon him. Trivedi said the agency had documents that showed “that a huge amount was siphoned off through the company in which Banerjee was director and presently chief executive officer”, referring to Leaps and Bounds.
The ED lawyer said that on September 27, when Banerjee had appeared before the agency, he had assured officers that he would furnish the papers relating to the accounts of the company. “But as he (Banerjee) failed to submit the papers, he was called again on October 3,” the lawyer said.
Banerjee skipped the ED summons on October 3 as he was in Delhi to attend a pre-scheduled political programme.
After hearing both sides, Justice Sen observed that Banerjee should get time till October 10 for the submission of the required documents.