Customs Department files case against Abhishek Banerjee’s wife in Calcutta HC

By Team Newsable | First Published Dec 8, 2020, 12:13 PM IST

In 2019, the Calcutta High Court ruled in favour of Rujira Narula, wife of Trinamool Congress leader and Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, stating that she will not appear before the Customs Office. However, the custom department have again filed a case against her.

During the hearing, the Bench led by Justice IP Mukherjee asked Customs officers "why it took so long to register a complaint against Rujira Narula when the incident took place on March 16?"

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"Rujira will not appear before the Customs till July 31," the Bench added.

The customs department has approached the division bench challenging the order of the single bench of Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj. Lawyer Bhaskar Prasad Bandopadhyay, appearing for the customs department at the hearing of the case in the division bench of Justice Indraprasanna Mukherjee on Monday (December 7), sought two weeks to present his case. But the court questioned, “The case has been going on for a long time. Despite that, why give more time?”

The division bench gave time to the customs department till next Thursday (December 17). The case will be heard on that day.

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The case started in 2019. On March 17, 2019, Rujira returned to Kolkata from Bangkok with her sister Menka Gambhir. In a case filed in the Calcutta High Court, Rujira claimed that after she landed at the Kolkata airport, the customs officials demanded a bribe from her. When she refused to pay, she was taken to the airport's Red Channel with her luggage. There, her belongings were first searched by an X-ray machine and then confiscated. No illegal items or prohibited substances were found in her possession. She alleged that the customs officials tried to extort money from her.

Rujira went to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) police station and lodged a complaint against the customs officials for extortion and intimidation. On March 22, 2019, Assistant Commissioner of Customs SK Biswas lodged a complaint of intimidation against Rujira Bandyopadhyay and Menka Gambhir at the NSCBI police station. A few days later, on March 26, the two were summoned to appear at the customs office. A single bench of the High Court dismissed the summons issued by the customs department in the wake of Rujira's case.

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