On March 26 last year, customs authorities had issued summons to the TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira. Now, the Calcutta High Court has set aside those summons.
Abhishek Banerjee’s wife had been blocked by customs authorities at the Kolkata airport last year. (File photo)
In a major relief for TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday set aside summons issued to his wife Rujira Banerjee (Naroola) by the Customs Department in March last year.
Terming the summons ‘illegal’, the court said, “The customs authority had filed a complaint on 22.03.2019 and after the complaint was filed, police acted upon the same by taking magisterial approval under Section 155 of Criminal Procedure Code. Thus the customs authority has lost its jurisdiction to enquire any further in respect of the alleged offence.”
On March 26 last year, customs authorities had issued summons to the TMC MP’s wife under Section 133 of the Customs Act, 1962. Her lawyer Sanjay Basu, alleged that when his client returned to Kolkata from Bangkok, customs officials blocked her and sought a bribe to let her go.
“Mrs Banerjee, who at that time was pregnant, had landed at the Kolkata airport with her sister Ms Menka Gambhir while returning from Bangkok. While she was waiting for her luggage a custom official sought for a bribe and thereafter threatened them of implication in a false case on their refusal to pay such bribe,” Basu claimed in a statement.
