Calcutta HC denies Abhishek Banerjee permission to travel abroad for eye treatment

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday denied permission to Trinamool Congress general secretary and Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee to travel abroad for eye treatment.

A single-judge bench of Justice Sougata Bhattacharya observed that he had earlier advised Banerjee to consult expert doctors from the state-run SSKM Medical College & Hospital and the court, on the basis of that report from the hospital, would take a decision on the matter. However, the Trinamool MP approached the Supreme Court seeking the same permission. The SC's three-judge division bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Venkita Subramani Mohan, last week, referred the matter to HC. Following this, Justice Bhattacharya denied permission to travel abroad and dismissed the case.

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Banerjee's counsel Rebecca Mammen John argued in court that her client was allowed to travel abroad in an ED- registered case against him.

Bengal's Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar said the state now has objections to Banerjee's travel abroad considering the ongoing cases against him where he is an accused. He contended that there was no medical emergency that required Banerjee to travel abroad for eye treatment.