The Calcutta High Court on Friday extended the interim protection granted to Trinamool Congress General Secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee in connection with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probe into the alleged mismatch of signatures on a document related to appointments for key positions in the West Bengal Assembly. The protection from coercive action, including arrest, has been extended for another month by a single-judge bench of Justice Kaushik Chanda.

Banerjee had approached the High Court seeking the quashing of the FIR registered against him by the CID in the signature mismatch case. His earlier interim protection expired on Friday, prompting the court to hear the matter and extend the relief. During the hearing, Justice Chanda ordered that the interim protection remain in force for an additional month while proceedings in the case continue.

The CID inquiry concerns alleged discrepancies in the signatures of several Trinamool Congress legislators on a resolution submitted to the Assembly Speaker regarding appointments to key positions reserved for the Opposition bench. Banerjee had earlier written to Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee recommending Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of the Opposition, Nayna Bandopadhyay and Asima Patra as Deputy Leaders, and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip of the Trinamool Legislative Party. The Speaker had sought a resolution signed by party legislators endorsing the proposed appointments.

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After the resolution was submitted, expelled Trinamool legislators Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha alleged that some of the signatures did not match those of the concerned MLAs. Following the complaint, the Assembly Secretariat referred the matter to the CID, which has since been investigating the allegations. Banerjee has already been questioned twice by CID officials as part of the inquiry.

Apart from the signature mismatch case, the CID is also investigating Banerjee in another matter related to alleged inflammatory remarks made during a political campaign before the recent West Bengal Assembly elections. In that case, he has been accused of making statements allegedly inciting violence and threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Banerjee has already submitted his voice samples before a district court in North 24 Parganas as part of the investigation.

The High Court’s latest order ensures that no coercive action can be taken against Banerjee in the signature mismatch case until the next hearing. The investigation by the CID will continue while the court examines his plea seeking to have the FIR quashed.

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