Special Court summons Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee over fake degree case

A Special Court on Thursday summoned Abhishek Banerjee nephew of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, in a fake degree case. The case was filed by Supreme Court Advocate Sarthak Chaturvedi. The court has asked him to appear before them on 25th July.

According to the petitioner Sarthak Chaturvedi, the Abhishek Banerjee had furnished wrong details about his educational qualifications in the affidavit submitted by him during elections. Sarthak has alleged that in 2014 elections, Banerjee has submitted in the affidavit that he has completed his MBA degree from a particular university which is not recognised.

According to the affidavits submitted by Banerjee during 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he obtained an MBA degree from Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) in the year 2009. The 2019 affidavit additionally mentions “as per affiliation degree received from I.M.I., Belgium”.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday termed the raids carried out by the CBI on former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising and her husband Anand Grover as “vendetta” and alleged that the government was harassing all the “voices of opposition”.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carried out searches at Jaising’s residence and offices of Lawyers Collective, an NGO run by Grover, a noted lawyer, who has been booked by the agency for alleged Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violations in receiving foreign aid.

The searches are taking place at the Nizamuddin residence and office of Jaising, office of the NGO in Jangpura and an office in Mumbai from 5.00 am, officials said.

“The CBI raid at the residence of Indira Jaising and Anand Grover is yet another example of the many instances of vendetta. This govt is harassing citizens and all voices of opposition. This is a #SuperEmergency,” TMC national spokesperson Derek O’ Brien tweeted.

The CBI had filed an FIR against Grover and the NGO on the basis of a complaint from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has alleged several discrepancies in the utilisation of foreign aid received by the group.

According to the complaint by the MHA, which is now a part of the FIR, the group had received foreign aid worth over Rs 32.39 crore between 2006-07 and 2014-15, wherein irregularities were committed that amounted to violation of the FCRA.

Jaising is not named as an accused in the FIR but her alleged role figures in the ministry’s complaint.