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SC asks Calcutta HC to hear Abhishek Banerjee’s foreign travel plea urgently
The court disposed of Banerjee’s petition after noting that his application for permission to travel remained pending before the high court.
The Supreme Court on Monday requested the Calcutta high court to consider at the earliest an application filed by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee seeking permission to travel abroad for specialised treatment of an eye ailment, without expressing any opinion on the merits of his plea.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana disposed of Banerjee’s petition after noting that his application seeking permission to travel abroad remained pending before the high court.
“The application for permission to travel abroad for medical treatment is pending before the high court. It appears that no date has been fixed so far. We therefore request the high court to look into that application,” the bench said.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Banerjee, submitted that the request before the high court was limited to seeking modification of an earlier interim order to enable overseas travel for medical treatment.
“It is an innocuous application seeking modification of the high court’s protection order only to allow me to travel for a medical purpose. Your Lordships in most serious cases have granted me that liberty,” he argued.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the application had already been included in the Calcutta high court’s monthly cause list and suggested that the apex court request the high court to take it up on a specific date.
The restriction on Banerjee’s foreign travel stems from an earlier Calcutta high court order granting him protection from coercive action in a criminal case related to an alleged provocative speech made during the recently concluded West Bengal assembly elections, subject to the condition that he would not leave the country without the court’s prior permission.
The high court had also directed Banerjee to first undergo a medical examination at Kolkata’s state-run SSKM Hospital before considering his request to travel abroad for treatment.
