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ED summons Abhishek Banerjee on Oct 3; MP claims day coincides with Delhi rally
The TMC is scheduled to hold an agitation in Delhi on October 3 to protest against suspension of Central funds for schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said in a social media post on Thursday afternoon that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned him on October 3, the day his party will hold its first mass agitation in Delhi against suspension of Central funds for West Bengal.
Banerjee shared the copy a summon letter in which Mithilesh Kumar Mishra, the ED’s additional director in Kolkata, asked him to appear for questioning at his office at the Salt Lake CGO Complex at 10.30am on October 3 and said that the day coincides with that of the party’s protest rally in Delhi.
Since the notice was sent under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and it mentioned Abhishek’s company – Leaps and Bounds – it was imperative that the summon was related to the probe into the alleged bribe-for-job scam in the state education department. The offices of Leaps and Bounds were raided by the ED on August 21 and 22.
Banerjee targeted the ED on is official X handle on Thursday.
He wrote: “Earlier this month, the ED summoned me on a day coinciding with an important coordinating meeting of #INDIA in Delhi. I dutifully appeared and complied with the served summons. Now, today yet again they have served me another summons to appear before them on a day when the protest agitation for West Bengal’s rightful dues is scheduled in Delhi on 3rd Oct. This stark revelation unequivocally exposes those who are truly perturbed, rattled and scared!”
The TMC is scheduled to hold an agitation in Delhi on October 3 to protest against suspension of Central funds for schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). TMC supporters are supposed to leave for Delhi in trains at the end of this month.
The Centre has suspended the funds alleging irregularities in implementation and misuse of the schemes.
TMC has alleged several times that the federal probe agencies are being used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre against the Bengal government for political reasons.
Banerjee was previous questioned by the ED in connection with the multi-crore scam on September 13, the day the coordination committee of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) coalition of opposition parties held its first meeting. The coalition leaders, who met in Delhi, kept an empty chair at the venue to symbolically mark Banerjee’s presence and made strong statements against BJP.
Banerjee moved the Calcutta high court earlier this month seeking quashing of the enforcement case information report (ECIR) that ED has filed against him. An ECIR is equivalent to a first information report (FIR).
On September 22, justice Tirthankar Ghosh granted partial relief to Banerjee, saying the ED cannot take any coercive action against him unless it finds evidence indicating his involvement in the bribe-for-job case.
The judge did not quash the ECIR but said no coercive steps can be taken against Banerjee on its basis.
TMC targeted the BJP again on Thursday.
“The federal agencies have been asked by BJP to summon and harass Abhishek specifically on those days when he is scheduled to take part in important meetings or movements against the Centre,” said TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh.
Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said: “People of Bengal are tired of these long investigations and series of summons. Let the probe be concluded quickly so that truth is revealed.”
