HC issues injunction against Bengal BJP chief

THE CALCUTTA High Court has issued an injunction against West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh restraining him from making comments connecting Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee with Rajya Sabha member K D Singh, also a ruling party member.

Singh is alleged to have made money available to Narada News Ceomathewsamuelforconductingastingoperation,inwhichseveral Trinamool leaders were seen accepting money. Recently, 12 Trinamool leaders were booked by the CBI in the case.

Ghosh had on March 27 told mediapersons that Singh was Banerjee’s ‘khura shashur’ or uncle-in-law. Banerjee later filed a defamation suit against Ghosh.

“There is no relationship between Abhishek Banerjee, or anyone in his family, with K D Singh,” Banerjee’s lawyer Sanjay Basu said.

“What he said at the press conference was an absolute lie. We issued a notice to Ghosh, asking him for an explanation. He replied to the notice, but his letter was evasive. We demanded that he apologise within 72 hours, but he has not done so. So we approached the high court,” he added.

Basu filed an injunction application in Calcutta High Court on Banerjee’s behalf.

The court of Justice Soumen Sen granted the injunction, forbidding Ghosh from making statements connecting Banerjee to Singh.

When contacted, Ghosh said: “I have heard about it. But I am in Birbhum. We were not given enough time, so our lawyer could not be present at the hearing to defend me.”

He added that during the March 27 press conference, he had told mediapersons that he had “heard that Abhishek Banerjee was related to K D Singh”.