Kolkata:Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party's Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, on Thursday was questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police in connection with the legislators' signature mismatch case. He arrived at the CID headquarters in Kolkata in the evening.

Earlier in the day, a single-judge vacation bench of Justice Kaushik Chanda had directed Abhishek Banerjee to appear at the CID's office by 6 p.m. and face the questioning over the party's choice of Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal assembly.

The bench came down heavily on the TMC general secretary, who is also the nephew of the party's supremo Mamata Banerjee, for dodging summons in the matter thrice. The court said that the repetition of the same action would not be tolerated anymore and he would have to appear at the CID office and face questioning by 6 pm on Thursday. He arrived at the Bhabani Bhavan at 5:55 p.m., which is five minutes before the expiry of the deadline.

Can Abhishek Banerjee Be Arrested?

Abhishek cannot be arrested as the Calcutta High Court on Thursday had already granted him interim protection from any coercive action in the case.

The matter will come up for hearing again after two weeks, Justice Chanda said. Banerjee had moved the high court seeking protection from any coercive action by the state CID over its probe into the alleged forgery of party MLAs' signatures.

Also Read:TMC Expels Two MLAs Amid Signature Row, Cites 'Anti-Party' Activities

The CID is investigating a complaint filed with the Assembly Secretariat by two rebel TMC MLAs alleging that their signatures were forged on the party's resolution appointing Ballygunge MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the leader of the opposition.

The controversy erupted after discrepancies were allegedly found between signatures on the May 19 letter, signed by around 70 TMC MLAs, supporting senior TMC leader Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition (LoP), and official Assembly records, including signatures made during the oath-taking process. The signature of Chowringhee MLA Nayna Banerjee is among those that reportedly came under scrutiny.

Following the allegations, the Assembly Secretariat lodged a complaint at Hare Street Police Station. The case was later transferred to the CID for a detailed investigation.

Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now