The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest for three weeks to Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee in a case pertaining to allegedly forged signatures in a letter submitted to support the appointment of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Live Law reported.

However, Justice Kausik Chanda asked Abhishek Banerjee, who is the TMC’s national general secretary, to appear before the Crime Investigation Department by 6 pm, PTI reported.

This came after his lawyer informed the court that the MP was in Delhi and would return to Kolkata only by 4 pm.

He had earlier skipped summons issued by the department in the case. Subsequently, the CID searched the Kolkata home of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, while she was in Delhi. Abhishek Banerjee is Mamata Banerjee’s nephew.

On Thursday, the court said that a person accused in a crime cannot be forced to produce documents that may potentially incriminate them, as it would go against protections guaranteed by Article 20 of the Constitution, Live Law reported.

Article 20 provides fundamental safeguards to individuals accused of crimes, including barring them from being a witness against themselves.

The matter was listed for further hearing after two weeks, Bar and Bench reported.

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