Kolkata, June 24 (IANS) A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Wednesday, turned down a plea by the Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member, Abhishek Banerjee, for a fast-track hearing on his petition seeking the court’s permission to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment. On Tuesday, Banerjee, the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, moved a petition at the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya seeking permission to travel abroad for ophthalmic treatment.

Along with the petition seeking the court’s permission to travel abroad, a plea was also moved for a fast-track hearing. However, on Wednesday, Justice Bhattacharya’s bench clearly stated that there was no reason to grant a fast-track hearing and also observed that the matter will come up for hearing in the normal course. In the recent past, following an order of another single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, the Criminal Investigation Department of the West Bengal Police questioned Abhishek Banerjee twice in an ongoing probe into the MLA signature mismatch case. The case relates to the signatures of some Trinamool Congress legislators on a crucial resolution pertaining to appointments for some slots in the West Bengal Assembly which are reserved for the opposition bench.

Then, the single-judge bench of Justice Kaushik Chanda also granted Abhishek Banerjee interim protection from coercive police action, including arrest, but under certain conditions; one of them was a bar on his overseas travel without prior court permission. So, amid that restriction, Banerjee on Tuesday approached the bench of Justice Bhattacharya with a petition seeking permission for foreign travel for treatment purposes as well as to fast-track hearing in the matter.

Now, although the main petition seeking permission for foreign travel has been admitted, the plea for fast-track hearing has been rejected. In October 2016, Abhishek Banerjee was involved in an accident on his way back to Kolkata from a party programme in Murshidabad district. He suffered serious injuries to his eye in that accident. He first visited several hospitals in the country and later sought treatment abroad.

--IANS