The Calcutta High Court on Thursday (July 30, 2026) gave protection to Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee against any coercive action in three FIRs against him. This comes a week after the court had asked Mr. Banerjee’s counsel to not club multiple cases to seek protection, saying that each would be dealt with on a case-to-case basis.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya on Thursday (July 30, 2026) said that he would ensure that Mr. Banerjee cooperated with the investigation. “But what is the need for coercive action at this stage?” he asked. He also directed the State to provide a list of FIRs filed against Mr. Banerjee. The Justice directed that no coercive action be taken against the petitioner. However, the counsels appearing for the State strongly objected to this order.

Mr. Banerjee’s counsel, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, said that there was a long delay in filing the FIRs, noting that some of the cases date back to 2017, while a slew of FIRs was registered only after the change in power in the State after May 4. He also added that most of the complaints are “scandalously casual” in nature.

The court added that the protection against coercive action is valid until August 17.

‘Special treatment’

Mr. Banerjee’s lawyer was seeking protection against eight FIRs, but on Thursday, he added that since the last hearing seven days ago, three more FIRs have been filed against his client.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the West Bengal State government, said that “one individual” was seeking special treatment from the court and if relief is given to him then it would mean he was being treated differently from common citizens.

Inflammatory remarks

Earlier, on May 21, the same court had granted protection to Mr. Banerjee in a case in which an FIR was registered against him over alleged inflammatory remarks made during the West Bengal Assembly election. The protection remains in force until July 31.

Justice Bhattacharyya had in a previous court proceeding said that if Mr. Banerjee failed to comply with the investigation process, then he would be forced to revoke the protection he had issued for the Trinamool leader.

A series of cases have been filed against Mr. Banerjee since the Trinamool Congress lost power in West Bengal, and a BJP government took over.

Published - July 30, 2026 09:35 pm IST