Kolkata, 10 June (H.S.): The political and legal battle over the alleged signature forgery case in West Bengal intensified on Wednesday as Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee sought urgent relief from the Calcutta High Court, while the party separately challenged the legality of a CID search conducted at its Kalighat office adjacent to the residence of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Senior advocate and Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee mentioned the matter before the court on behalf of Abhishek Banerjee and sought an urgent hearing. Justice Kaushik Chanda informed the parties that the matter would be taken up for hearing on Thursday.

The development comes a day after a team of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) visited the Trinamool Congress office in Kalighat as part of its investigation into the alleged signature forgery controversy. Following initial resistance and exchanges between party representatives and investigating officers, the CID team was allowed to enter the premises. Investigators reportedly conducted a search operation lasting nearly two hours.

Appearing for the Trinamool Congress, advocate Kishore Dutta alleged before the High Court that CID officials entered the office without a valid search warrant or proper seizure documentation. He argued that the manner in which the search was conducted raised serious questions about the legality of the operation.

Earlier, a plea seeking urgent hearing of Abhishek Banerjee’s petition for protection had been declined by the Bench of Justice Chaitali Chatterjee Das. However, the matter was later sought to be included in the hearing list and is now scheduled to come up before the court on Thursday.

The controversy stems from an ongoing CID investigation into allegations of forged signatures on a proposed letter reportedly submitted to West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose. According to investigators, signatures of several Trinamool Congress legislators appearing on the document are suspected to be forged. Some of the legislators whose signatures allegedly appear on the letter have reportedly denied signing any such document.

As part of the investigation, CID officials first visited Abhishek Banerjee’s Kalighat residence on May 30. A notice was subsequently issued directing him to appear for questioning on June 1. Banerjee sought a 14-day extension, but the request was not accepted by the agency. Several notices were later issued, but he did not appear before investigators. On Monday, the CID served him with a third notice directing him to appear on Tuesday.

According to sources familiar with the investigation, the meeting during which the legislators’ signatures were allegedly collected took place at the Kalighat party office. Investigators are attempting to establish who attended the meeting, who signed the document and under what circumstances the signatures were obtained.

The CID is also seeking access to CCTV footage from the office in an effort to reconstruct the sequence of events and verify the authenticity of the signatures under scrutiny.

With both the legal challenge and the investigation progressing simultaneously, the case has emerged as one of the most politically sensitive controversies in West Bengal, carrying significant implications for the Trinamool Congress and its leadership.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh