New Delhi: Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order refusing him permission to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment.
Banerjee has filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the proceedings before the Calcutta High Court, where he had sought permission to travel abroad for treatment of his eye condition.
The petition has now been registered as SLP(Crl) Nos. 13555-13556/2026 and is pending before the apex court.
According to the case status reflected on the official website of the apex court, the petition is likely to be listed for hearing on August 3.
Banerjee had approached the Calcutta High Court seeking permission to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment, informing the court that he had been undergoing ophthalmic treatment in the United States for nearly a decade following an eye injury suffered in a road accident in 2016. However, on July 20, a single-judge Bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya declined to immediately permit the Diamond Harbour MP to travel abroad and instead directed him to first consult specialists at the state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
The High Court observed that it would take a further decision on the request for foreign travel only after examining the report of a medical board to be constituted by the head of the ophthalmology department at S.S.K.M.
Banerjee’s plea for foreign travel had been opposed by the West Bengal government, with Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Mazumdar submitting that several cases involving the Trinamool leader were pending and that permitting him to travel abroad could create complications for the investigation.
The proceedings also relate to a case in which Banerjee has been accused of making hate and violence-inciting speeches during campaigning for the West Bengal Assembly elections, including alleged remarks threatening Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Calcutta High Court had earlier granted Banerjee interim protection from coercive police action, including arrest, subject to conditions, one of which required him to seek the court’s permission before travelling abroad.
While declining immediate permission for overseas travel for treatment, the High Court on July 20 extended his interim protection till October 6 and directed him to continue cooperating with the investigation.
Banerjee, the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had first moved the Calcutta High Court on June 23 seeking seven days’ permission to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment. He had suffered serious eye injuries in a road accident in October 2016 while returning to Kolkata from a political programme in Murshidabad. He subsequently underwent treatment at hospitals in India and abroad.
(IANS)
