Abhishek Banerjee gets Supreme Court nod to travel abroad for 3 weeks for eye treatment

On Monday, the Supreme Court granted Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee permission to travel abroad for three weeks to receive eye treatment, as reported by The Hindustan Times. The three-judge bench, consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymala Bagchi and V. Mohama, made the decision after hearing Banerjee's appeal against a Calcutta High Court ruling that denied his request for permission to travel abroad for treatment.

The Calcutta High Court had rejected Banerjee's petition on August 5th, stating that he had not agreed to appear before the medical board at SSKM Hospital the following day. Banerjee subsequently sought relief from the Supreme Court, challenging the decision.

The High Court had ruled that Banerjee's application should not be kept pending further, as he was unwilling to appear before the medical board at SSKM Hospital and provide an assessment from state medical experts on whether treatment abroad was necessary. On August 3rd, the Supreme Court had directed the Calcutta High Court to consider Banerjee's plea seeking permission to travel abroad for treatment for an eye condition within a week.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan, representing Banerjee, informed the Supreme Court that the petition aimed to modify the High Court's order, enabling him to travel overseas for eye treatment. The high court had previously extended Banerjee's interim protection from coercive action until October 6th, in a case concerning allegedly offensive comments he made against leaders and workers of a rival party at a public meeting on April 27th, prior to the second phase of the West Bengal assembly polls.

The high court had directed Banerjee to cooperate with the investigation and prohibited him from traveling abroad without court permission during the ongoing investigation.