In connection with the case, the Supreme Court ordered the ED to interrogate the TMC leader and his wife in Kolkata rather than...
Digital Desk: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a new round of interrogation on September 2 in connection with a money laundering case involving an alleged coal scam in West Bengal.
Banerjee, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal and leader of the TMC, has been asked to appear at the investigation agency's office in Kolkata.
In connection with the case, the Supreme Court ordered the ED to interrogate the TMC leader and his wife in Kolkata rather than Delhi in May. The Supreme Court further stated that if the ED interrogates Banerjee and his wife in Kolkata, it will not accept any form of hindrance or interference by the state machinery.
The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal by the Diamond Harbour MP and his wife, Rujira Banerjee, against a March 11 ruling by the Delhi High Court dismissing their petition seeking a quashing of summons issued by the ED.
On March 11, the high court dismissed the couple's appeal challenging the ED notices requesting that they appear before it for questioning in Delhi rather than Kolkata.
The TMC national general secretary, Banerjee, was questioned for the first time in relation to the matter in September of last year, and his statement was recorded under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The 34-year-old was questioned for the second time in the case on March 21 in Delhi for about eight hours.
The Chief Minister and the TMC have often accused the BJP-led Centre of employing central investigation agencies to harass leaders of Bengal's ruling party.
After the CBI filed an FIR in November 2020 regarding an alleged multi-crore rupee coal theft scam involving Eastern Coalfields Limited mines in West Bengal's Kunustoria and Kajora areas in and around Asansol, the ED opened an investigation into the matter.
The federal investigation agency alleged that the TMC MP benefited from the proceeds of this unlawful exchange.
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