Abhishek Banerjee, a West Bengal minister and Trinamool Congress politician, has once more been called by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the coal smuggling case.
The TMC leader has been requested to appear before the federal agency's Kolkata headquarters on September 2, 2022, news agency ANI reported.
In connection with the case, the Supreme Court ordered the ED to question the TMC leader and his wife in Kolkata rather than Delhi in May. The top court further said that if the ED questions Banerjee and his wife in Kolkata, it will not allow any involvement or hindrance by the State apparatus.
The Diamond Harbour MP and his wife Rujira Banerjee appealed a Delhi High Court decision on March 11 that denied their request to have summonses issued to them by the ED quashed. The case was being heard by the Supreme Court at the time.
On March 11, the high court dismissed the couple's appeal challenging the ED notifications requesting that they appear before it for questioning in Delhi rather than Kolkata.
The TMC national general secretary Banerjee was questioned for the first time in relation to the matter in September of last year, and his testimony was recorded in accordance with certain parts of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On March 21 in Delhi, the 34-year-old underwent over eight hours of questioning for the second time in relation to the case.
The Chief Minister and TMC have often charged that the BJP-led Centre is harassing the leaders of Bengal's ruling party by employing government investigation agencies.
The ED claims that Abhishek Banerjee and his family are associated with two of the case's entities, Leaps and Bound Pvt Ltd and Leaps and Bound Management Services LLP. The firms reportedly got Rs 4.37 crore in protection fees from a construction firm through the defendants in the suspected coal smuggling case.
Amit Banerjee, the father of Abhishek Banerjee, and his wife Rujira are among the company's directors.
(With Inputs From ANI)