Coal scam case: TMC MP's kin appears before ED

Kolkata, Sep 12: Maneka Gambhir, the sister-in-law of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning in connection with an alleged coal scam case, The ED issued fresh summons to Gambhir after it “erroneously” issued her a notice for appearance at 12:30 am instead of 12:30 pm on Monday, official sources said.

Gambhir, who was then asked to appear by 2 pm, reached the agency’s office at CGO complex in Salt Lake around 12.40 pm. Earlier, the ED was left red-faced when Gambhir arrived at its office here past midnight, as the notice asked her to appear before the agency at 12.30 am on Monday.

Wearing a blue kurta, Gambir reached the ED office and posed for a picture before a locked office along with the notice, which the agency later termed as a "typographical error", the sources said.

She was accompanied by a lawyer. Gambhir was handed over the summons to appear at the ED office on Monday by agency officials at the Kolkata airport on September 10, after she was denied from taking an international flight.

The Calcutta High Court had in August directed the ED to question Gambhir at its regional office in Kolkata and not in Delhi, and also not to take coercive steps against her till the next date of hearing.

Gambhir had challenged an ED summons that asked her to appear before it in Delhi on September 5 in connection with the alleged coal scam case, and had sought direction from the court to the agency to allow her to appear before it in Kolkata, where she claimed she resides.

The central agency had earlier questioned Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the national general general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and his wife Rujira, in connection with the case.