Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee left for Delhi on Sunday and will appear before Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in a money laundering case against him and his wife, allegedly in connection with the coal scam.
While leaving Kolkata, Abhishek said: “I am ready to bow down before the power of people but not before the people in power.” The general secretary added, “I did not receive the notice physically, but was called verbally.”
“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite all its might, is failing to take down TMC electorally and democratically. Hence, the central government is using the agencies against us,” he said.
Abhishek and his wife Rujira Bandyopadhyay were asked to appear before the ED on Monday and Tuesday.
Earlier, Abhishek and Rujira had approached the Delhi High Court against the ED notice. They said that both of them were residents of West Bengal but they were being called to the ED office in Delhi for questioning. A request was also made for the ED to go to Calcutta and interrogate them. However, the Delhi High Court dismissed the plea this month, following which the ED again sent a notice to the Banerjee couple to appear before it on March 21 and 22.
Earlier, when Abhishek appeared before the ED office in Delhi, he was interrogated for more than eight hours. During the proceedings in the Delhi High Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, speaking on behalf of the ED, said that the ED’s jurisdiction to investigate was not limited to one jurisdiction.
Kapil Sibal, a veteran lawyer for the Trinamool MP and his wife, pleaded that if the ED had to be questioned, it should be done in Kolkata. The reason, he said, was that Abhishek and his wife were both residents of West Bengal.
But Sibal’s argument was countered on the ground that Abhishek is an MP and so he has to stay in Delhi during the parliamentary session. In that case, he must have an address in Delhi. After hearing the arguments of both the parties, the high court rejected the plea of Abhishek and Rujira.