'CID Has Summoned Me Again On June 14': Abhishek Banerjee Says He Was Grilled For 5.30 Hours

Kolkata: TMC National General Secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee on Friday stated that he has been summoned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) again on June 14 in connection with the signature forgery case linked to appointments within the party's legislative wing.

“I am summoned again on 14th June.  Since I will be in Kolkata on that day, I will appear at the investigating agency once again. I have always cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so," the MP said, adding that the CID grilled him for five and a half hours on Thursday.

“Today, I was attending a meeting at our party chairperson's residence. Around 4:45 PM, I came to know that a CID team had arrived at my residence. I requested my office staff to receive the notice, but the officers did not hand it over. I was not able to leave the meeting midway. The next time CID visits, I would request the officers to contact me beforehand so that I can personally receive the notice. I have never tried to evade the investigation and have always extended full cooperation,” he added.

The case revolves around alleged irregularities in a resolution submitted to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly concerning the appointment of Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition, Asima Patra and Nayna Bandyopadhyay as Deputy Leaders of Opposition, and Firhad Hakim as Chief Whip.

Abhishek Banerjee had informed the Assembly Speaker that these appointments were approved during a meeting of the All India Trinamool Congress legislative party.

The controversy erupted after the Assembly Secretariat sought records related to the meeting.

On May 18, the Principal Secretary of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly asked Banerjee to submit the meeting minutes, resolution documents and signatures of MLAs who were present during the decision-making process.

In response, Banerjee submitted a copy of the resolution book and an attendance sheet on May 20, stating that 70 MLAs had attended the May 6 meeting.

However, on May 27, two TMC MLAs approached the Speaker alleging that no such resolution had been adopted during the meeting. They claimed they had signed the resolution register only on May 19 and not on May 6 as indicated in the documents.

The complainants also alleged that the resolution dated May 6 had been "manufactured and fabricated."

According to the complaint, at least 14 signatures in the submitted documents appeared in block letters, raising doubts about their authenticity.

As part of the probe, the CID has reportedly recorded statements from 13 MLAs whose signatures were found to be in block letters.

Based on a complaint filed by the Assembly's Principal Secretary, the Hare Street Police Station registered a case on May 27 under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

The CID took over the investigation the following day and has since been examining documents, questioning legislators and gathering evidence related to the alleged forgery.