TMC sends legal notice to Amit Shah for graft allegations against Mamata nephew

Kolkata, Aug 13: Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Monday sent a defamation notice to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Amit Shah for his speech in Kolkata where he had brought graft charges against Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

The legal notice demanding an apology from Shah for allegedly making defamatory statements against Abhishek Banerjee, a Lok Sabha MP, was sent to the state BJP headquarter here, his lawyer Sanjay Basu said.

Basu asked Shah to "issue an unconditional apology in an appropriate press conference within 72 hours from receipt of the instant notice retracting the virulent and mala-fide statements made against my client."

The notice to Shah said, "In the course of your speech you had made various allegations against my client by making a flimsy and thinly veiled reference and/or insinuation to the "bhatija" (nephew) of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of the State of West Bengal.

"Since, it is well known that my client is the nephew of Smt. Mamata Bannerjee and is actively involved in politics, the contents of your speech left little to the imagination of my client's well-wishers that you were referring to my client."

The lawyer claimed that the "false statements" against his client has caused grave loss and prejudice to his client's reputation amongst his well-wishers and the citizens of India.

Basu said his client Abhishek Banerjee "denies the allegation that he is involved in any purported diversion of public and/or government funds to the tune of Rs 3,59,000 crore or any other sum purportedly allotted from the Centre to the State of West Bengal."

He sought Shah desist from making or circulating any defamatory comments, statement, causing publication of the same in any media against his client.

Shah, while addressing the 'Yuva Swabhiman Samavesh Rally' in Kolkata, had alleged that the funds released by the Centre worth Rs 3.59 lakh crores to West Bengal ended up with the Abhishek, who is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew, and syndicates.

During the 14th finance commission, the Narendra Modi government allotted Rs.3,59000 crore to Bengal as compared to Rs. 1,32,000 crore given by the UPA government during the previous finance commission. Where did all the money go? Did it disappear in the pockets of syndicates and the nephew?" Shah questioned.