After Calcutta HC Setback, Abhishek Banerjee Takes Overseas Treatment Plea to SC

Trinamool Congress leader and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court’s refusal to allow him to travel abroad for specialised eye treatment.

The latest legal move comes after the High Court dismissed his application on August 5, citing his decision not to appear before a medical board at Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital. The court said an examination by government-appointed medical experts could have provided an objective assessment of his condition and helped determine whether treatment outside India was warranted.

Banerjee had sought relaxation of the restriction preventing him from travelling abroad while an investigation is pending against him. The High Court, however, maintained that the medical necessity for overseas treatment had not been established through the assessment it had directed him to undergo.

The court had earlier indicated that specialised eye-care facilities are available in Kolkata, and had been reluctant to permit foreign travel while the investigation remained in progress.

The travel restriction is linked to interim protection granted to Banerjee in a case arising from alleged remarks made against leaders and workers of a rival political party during a public meeting on April 27, ahead of the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections. While extending his protection from coercive action until October 6, the High Court directed him to cooperate with the investigation and barred overseas travel without prior judicial approval.

The matter had earlier reached the Supreme Court on August 3, when the apex court directed the Calcutta High Court to consider Banerjee’s request within a week. After the High Court rejected the plea, Banerjee has once again approached the Supreme Court, seeking permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Banerjee has separately sought quashing of the FIR registered against him. The Supreme Court will now consider his challenge to the High Court’s latest order and decide whether the restriction on his overseas travel should be modified for medical reasons.