HC grants Abhishek interim protection till July 31

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim protection from coercive action to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee till July 31 in connection with an FIR registered over his remarks at a public rally. A single bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya directed the TMC national general secretary to cooperate with the probe and not travel abroad without the court's permission.The court also mandated that any fresh notice for investigation must be issued to Banerjee with a minimum 48-hour prior window. However, Justice Bhattacharyya criticized the lawmaker's comments, observing, "He is general secretary of AITC and an MP. Why such statements were made during a political campaign? Does it match with the status of the petitioner being GS of an all-India political party?" The bench further asked what the consequences would have been if the party was on the winning side, "considering that there is a very black history regarding post-poll violence."Banerjee had moved the high court seeking to quash the May 5 FIR. Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the MP, contended that no post-poll violence occurred at the locations where the statements were made.