The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday extended interim protection to Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, directing the investigating authorities to refrain from adopting any coercive measures against him in connection with three FIRs registered in the aftermath of the political transition in West Bengal on May 4.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya passed the order while entertaining Banerjee’s writ petition seeking the quashing of multiple criminal proceedings, which, according to him, were instituted with political overtones and amounted to a misuse of the criminal process.
The Court observed that, at the present stage, custodial interrogation of Banerjee did not appear necessary for the purposes of the investigation. It accordingly directed the police not to take any coercive steps against him until November 30, 2026, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The protection, however, was made conditional upon Banerjee’s continued cooperation with the investigation and compliance with notices issued by the investigating agencies. The authorities were directed to afford him a minimum notice period of 48 hours before requiring his appearance or participation in the investigation. The Court further clarified that, in the event of non-cooperation or breach of the conditions attached to the interim protection, the State would remain at liberty to move an appropriate application seeking modification, variation or vacation of the order.
The High Court also clarified that its directions would not impede Banerjee’s travel abroad for medical treatment, which had already been permitted by the Supreme Court in its order dated August 10.
Although Banerjee had sought judicial intervention in relation to as many as 16 FIRs, the Court confined the scope of the present proceedings to the three cases whose complete particulars had been specifically disclosed in the writ petition. These include Bhawanipur Police Station Case No. 121 dated May 27, Kalitala Ashuti Police Station Case No. 140 dated June 16, and Vishnupur Police Station Case No. 668 of 2026.
The Court held that, in the absence of adequate particulars concerning the remaining FIRs, it would not be appropriate to undertake a judicial examination of those proceedings. Consequently, the umbrella of interim protection granted by the Court remains confined strictly to the three specified criminal cases.
At the same time, the Court declined to accept the State’s preliminary objection that Banerjee was required to institute separate proceedings to challenge each FIR. Rejecting the contention, the Court observed that insisting upon an independent petition for every FIR would unnecessarily proliferate litigation and contribute to a multiplicity of proceedings.
Additional Advocate General Billwadal Bhattacharya subsequently sought a stay on the operation of the order. The request, however, did not find favour with the Court.
Appearing for Banerjee, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that at least 16 FIRs had been registered against the TMC leader following the change in the State government in May. The proceedings, it was argued, warranted judicial scrutiny in light of the circumstances in which the cases came to be instituted.
During the earlier hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju had opposed the petition, though he acknowledged that the FIRs were registered after the elections. He contended that where an FIR discloses the commission of a cognisable offence, its quashing at the threshold would not ordinarily be warranted. According to him, if Banerjee apprehended arrest, the appropriate remedy available to him was to seek anticipatory bail.
The State had also resisted the grant of interim protection, contending that even a conditional direction requiring cooperation with the investigation could result in further litigation if the conditions were allegedly breached, thereby compelling the authorities to approach the Court again.
Counsel appearing for the complainant in one of the FIRs also opposed Banerjee’s plea, submitting that he continued to wield considerable political influence and had recently made remarks concerning the complainant in the media.
At the previous hearing on August 11, the High Court had directed the police authorities to furnish Banerjee with complete particulars of the FIRs after it was submitted that only the first pages of the cases were accessible online.
On Tuesday, the Court further directed the investigating authorities to place on record a status report detailing the progress of investigation in the three FIRs presently under consideration.
The matter is now slated for further hearing on November 23.
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