On the 19th of February, a Special Court for the Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in West Bengal issued summons to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
According to the issued summon, Mr. Shah was asked to appear either personally or through a representative before the court on the 22nd of February. The summon was issued in connection with a defamation case filed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee.
The case was filed in 2018 August under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and is still pending.
Advocate Sanjay Basu, representing Abhishek Banerjee said, “Today the learned magistrate, Special Court West Bengal (MPs and MLA’s cases) has issued a summon upon Amit Shah to appear before the learned court on 22nd February.”
On August 11, 2018, Amit Shah, while speaking at the Yuva Swabhiman Samavesh Rally organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Mayo Road in Kolkata, had reportedly said that the people of Bengal have not received money disbursed under central funds due to corruption by Trinamool Congress (TMC.)
As per the submission in court, Shah had said, “The residents of the village in Bengal. Has the money reached your village? Where did it go? Where? Modi ji has sent it. Where did Rs 3,59,000 crore go? This has been gifted to the nephew and the syndicates. This has been sacrificed at the altar of corruption by the Trinamool Congress.”
On August 13, MP Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the Chief Minister’s nephew, sent a legal notice to Shah, demanding an apology from him for allegedly making defamatory statements against him. The notice sent to Shah stated, “In the course of your speech you had made various allegations against my client by making a flimsy and thinly veiled reference and/or insinuation to the ‘bhatija’ (nephew) of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal.”
Later, Abhisekh filed a criminal defamation case against the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
