The Supreme Court has agreed to grant protection to Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira in the coal smuggling case. The top court also allowed her to be questioned in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Moreover, it agreed to examine the legal issue of whether such protection can be extended only to women or extended to all persons.
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A notice in this regard has been issued to the Enforcement Directorate and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The ED summoned Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira to appear for questioning at its Delhi office on March 21 and 22. Banerjee and his wife had earlier moved the Delhi High Court against the ED’s summons, but the court refused to grant them any relief. The parliamentarian has repeatedly stated that the ED should question him and his wife in Kolkata and not in Delhi.
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A bailable warrant was issued later when Rujira failed to appear in Delhi for questioning by ED.
Justice UU Lalit told the central agency: “We will give protection to the man (Abhishek Banerjee) also. In case you want to interrogate you have to give a 24-hour notice.”
The SC, at the same time, warned Abhishek Banerjee that there should be “no protest or vandalism” in case he is called for questioning. “If any hooliganism takes place, we will withdraw the protection,” the court said.
