The high court on Thursday issued an order restraining the Enforcement Directorate till July 24 from taking any coercive measure against Trinamul general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee in connection with alleged irregularities in school recruitments.
While issuing the directive, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said the case will be heard on July 24.
The order followed a prayer by Banerjee seeking quashing of the proceedings against him by the central agency. Banerjee’s petition said the agency’s only intention was to “harass and heckle” him by implicating him in the case.
The petition also said the ED did not have any evidence against him.
During the hearing, the judge made it clear that ED would have to produce adequate documents in the court to substantiate its claim that Banerjee should be interrogated or taken into custody.
A few days ago, the agency had issued a summons asking Banerjee to appear before it for interrogation. Since the date of appearance was just before the panchayat polls, he refused to comply.