SC asks Calcutta HC to hear Abhishek Banerjee’s plea seeking nod to travel abroad for eye treatment

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Calcutta High Court to take up within a week TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s plea seeking permission to travel abroad for eye treatment.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was told by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Banerjee, that the plea seeks modification of the high court’s order to allow the TMC MP to travel for medical purposes.

“Application for allowing 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.

Banerjee, in his plea before the top court, has challenged the July 20 order passed by a single-judge bench of the high court.

The Calcutta High Court had earlier extended till October 6 Banerjee’s interim protection from coercive action in a case related to alleged intimidatory statements he made during the West Bengal Assembly election campaign.

Granting relief, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya of the high court had directed Banerjee to cooperate with the probe and not travel abroad without the court’s permission as previously ordered.

The judge extended the interim protection to Banerjee till October 6, or until further orders, whichever is earlier and said the TMC national general secretary’s plea for modification of conditions for granting him interim protection will be heard in August, but did not fix any particular date.

The Diamond Harbour MP had moved the application seeking permission to travel abroad for eye treatment.

Maintaining that the court was not inclined to allow the petitioner to travel abroad when the investigation was underway, Justice Bhattacharyya said there are several reputed eye clinics in Kolkata.

In an oral observation, Justice Bhattacharyya said the TMC MP should appear before the head of ophthalmology at the state-run SSKM Hospital, who will decide whether Banerjee’s eye issue can be treated there.

The TMC leader had prayed for quashing the FIR over his alleged comments against leaders and workers of a rival party at a public meeting on April 27 in the run-up to the second phase of the West Bengal assembly polls.