The Kolkata billboard case has intensified after Trinamool Congress national general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee asked Shakespeare Sarani police to give him at least 48 hours’ notice before questioning. Banerjee did not appear at the police station on Monday after receiving a summons to attend the interrogation at short notice, according to a report by The Statesman.
Police from the Shakespeare Sarani station had visited Banerjee’s Kalighat residence on Sunday to serve the notice. The summons required him to appear on Monday morning in connection with the investigation into a scuffle at his Camac Street office building. The report said Banerjee instead responded by email and requested that the police issue a fresh summons.
In the email, Banerjee said he was a Member of Parliament with pre-scheduled engagements and had been served notice on October 11 to appear the following day. He described the short notice as “unilateral, arbitrary, and unreasonable” and said it was not possible for him to attend within that timeframe. He also stated that he was ready to cooperate with the investigation if given sufficient time to arrange his visit.
The case relates to an incident on August 27 involving Banerjee’s supporters, police personnel and officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The confrontation reportedly occurred during an attempt to remove a billboard installed at the MP’s Camac Street office building. Police were alleged to have climbed onto the building’s roof to take down the structure.
According to the report, the billboard was alleged to have been placed illegally and to pose a safety risk to nearby residents. After the removal attempt, Banerjee’s supporters reportedly installed another banner carrying the party’s name at the same location. The supplied report does not establish whether the alleged violations have been conclusively determined by a municipal or judicial authority.
The episode places municipal billboard enforcement at the centre of a wider police investigation. Hoardings and banners attached to buildings can involve questions of permission, structural safety, visibility and enforcement responsibility, but the immediate police action in this case concerns the confrontation and related allegations rather than a final determination on the billboard’s legality.
Police had previously attempted to serve Banerjee a notice at his residence on Wednesday, but he was in Delhi and no one was available to receive it. After he returned to Kolkata on Saturday, officers visited his Kalighat residence again on Sunday. Banerjee had earlier appeared before police after being summoned in connection with the Camac Street clash, but investigators sought to question him again.
The police have registered three first information reports in relation to the incident and are continuing their investigation. The next formal step will depend on the fresh summons requested by Banerjee and the police’s decision on the notice period for his appearance.
