Abhishek Banerjee appears before Bidhannagar court 11 minutes ahead of deadline in 'DJ comment' case

Abhishek Banerjee arrived at the Bidhannagar court on Wednesday morning to submit his voice sample in connection with the controversial "DJ comment" case. The second-in-command of the party left his Kalighat residence around 11:00 AM and arrived at the court premises 11 minutes ahead of his scheduled appearance timeline. To prevent any untoward incidents, the entire court complex was placed under heavy police deployment and tight security grid cover.

The appearance follows prolonged legal attempts by the Diamond Harbour MP to avoid providing the voice sample. Banerjee had previously approached the Calcutta High Court, arguing that a fresh recording was redundant since he had already admitted the controversial remarks under investigation were his. However, the High Court strongly rebuked the leader for non-cooperation. Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya strictly warned Banerjee's legal team that his interim protection from coercive action would be summarily withdrawn and financial fines imposed if he continued to defy the investigative notices.

Faced with the withdrawal of judicial protection, Banerjee's legal team subsequently filed two specific applications before the court. The petitions requested judicial mandates ensuring that the collected voice sample would not be cross-utilized in other pending cases, and demanded necessary security measures to protect the MP from hostile actions such as egg pelting during his public appearances. The case pertains to allegedly intimidating and provocative election campaign speeches registered by the Bidhannagar Cyber Police.