Kolkata, June 3: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal is investigating a signature controversy involving Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators. On Tuesday, officials announced that the CID has sought permission from the court to collect handwriting samples from several legislators.
The CID filed a request in Bankshal Court to gather handwriting samples from TMC legislators Baharul Islam, Subhasish Das, and Arup Roy. The court has granted this request.
To investigate the matter, the CID has formed a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an officer of DIG rank. This issue arose following a complaint lodged by the Assembly Secretary at the Hare Street police station, alleging discrepancies in the signatures of certain TMC legislators. The CID is conducting the investigation in collaboration with Kolkata Police based on this complaint.
Notably, on Monday, the TMC expelled two legislators, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, for alleged anti-party activities. This action occurred after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari claimed during a press conference at Nabanna that these two legislators had submitted a written complaint to the Speaker regarding the assembly signature forgery case.
The Chief Minister stated that based on this complaint, the Assembly Secretariat filed a case at the Hare Street police station. He mentioned that, as a minister, he instructed the CID to be involved in the investigation upon receiving information about the matter.
Following the announcement of assembly election results on May 4, procedural complexities arose for the TMC regarding the selection of the Leader of the Opposition, Deputy Leader, and Chief Whip in the assembly.
On May 6, Mamata Banerjee convened a meeting of newly elected legislators at her residence in Kalighat. During the meeting, the legislators supported a proposal that the decision regarding the selection of the leader, deputy leader, and chief whip in the assembly should be made by Mamata Banerjee.
Subsequently, the TMC announced the appointment of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition, Nayana Bandyopadhyay and Asima Patra as Deputy Leaders, and Firhad Hakim as the Chief Whip.
A letter signed by party General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee was sent to the assembly, but it was not accepted. The Assembly Secretariat stated that the election of the parliamentary party leader and officials should have occurred in a formal meeting of the parliamentary party, which was not followed.
Following this, another meeting was convened in Kalighat on May 19, where legislators were asked to sign the minutes of the May 6 meeting. Some legislators alleged that they were made to sign old minutes, leading to the controversy.
During the investigation, the CID has already questioned Nayana Bandyopadhyay, Kunal Ghosh, Tapas Maiti, and Baharul Islam at their residences.
On Monday, the CID also summoned Abhishek Banerjee for questioning, but he cited health reasons for his inability to appear. The investigation is ongoing.
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