Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday and responded to queries linked to an ongoing investigation into an alleged school jobs scandal in West Bengal.
Banerjee, who spent nearly an hour at the ED office in the CGO Complex, submitted a detailed response accompanied by approximately 6,000 pages of supporting documents.
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Speaking to the media outside the central agency’s office, Banerjee said, “I have always cooperated with the ED for the probe. I have nothing to hide. I will appear before the ED if I am summoned again. I have submitted my detailed reply with all necessary documents.”
“Whenever they want to summon me, they can. They can even submit my statement to the court. The Calcutta High Court’s order of September 22 says that the ED is unable to submit any proof against Abhishek Banerjee… There still exists a protection order (from the court) for me. I am ready to hang myself if ED can submit proof. I never found excuses to not cooperate with the agencies. I could have asked for more time to collect all the documents. However, I didn’t do it and submitted all the documents,” he added.
On October 5, the Calcutta High Court suggested to the central investigating agency that Banerjee could be summoned for further questioning only if the ED found the information in the documents insufficient.
The TMC leader had previously faced ED inquiries in connection with the coal pilferage case.
Banerjee also voiced support for fellow TMC MP Mahua Moitra, who is currently stuck in the ‘cash-for-query’ controversy. He contended that individuals questioning the government face harassment from the BJP-led NDA dispensation.
(With inputs from PTI)