‘Crossed the red line’: Dhankhar takes on Abhishek for criticising judiciary

PTI, May 29, 2022, 4:22 PM IST

Siliguri: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has ”crossed the red line” by criticizing the judiciary for ordering CBI investigations, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Sunday, alleging that constitutional authorities in the state are under attack.

Stating that he is taking a serious note of the comments made by Banerjee, Dhankhar called upon the state’s chief secretary to urgently initiate appropriate action.

”Constitutional institutions in the state are under attack, the attack on judiciary is reprehensible,” Dhankhar said on arriving at the Bagdogra airport here on the way to Darjeeling.

”In a public meeting, attacking a judge who ordered CBI inquiry into SSC scam is most condemnable,” the governor said.

”The honorable Member of Parliament crossed the red line,” he said, without naming Banerjee.

The Calcutta High Court has ordered CBI investigations in several cases in the last year, including post-poll violence and recruitment of teachers by the School Service Commission (SSC).

TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, at a rally in Haldia on Saturday, lashed out at ”1 percent of the judiciary” for ordering CBI investigation in ”every case” in the state.

”I feel ashamed to say that there are one or two people in the judiciary who are in hand in gloves and have a tacit understanding and are ordering CBI investigation in every case. This is just 1 percent of the judiciary,” Banerjee had said, without clarifying the allegations.

”If you think you will take action against me for speaking the truth, then I will speak the truth a thousand times,” said the Lok Sabha MP from Diamond Harbour.

The development seemed to have opened another front in the turf war between the TMC government and the governor, which has been on since he assumed office in July 2019.

Accusing Dhankhar of having crossed the boundaries of the post of governor long back, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged that he was acting as a representative of the BJP.

”Abhishek Banerjee maintains full respect and faith in the courts and the judicial system,” he said.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said that attempts were being made by the TMC to demean all the pillars of democracy.

”How can Banerjee question the orders of the judiciary?” Majumdar, who is also a Lok Sabha MP, asked.