‘Something Serious Going On’: SC On Alleged Harassment Of Custom Officials For Checking Mamata’s Nephew’s Wife Luggage

Supreme Court today (12 April) today gravely remarked that something “very, very serious” was going on in West Bengal as it agreed to hear a petition that alleges harassment of customs officials at Kolkata Airport while inspecting the luggage belonging to the wife of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, reports Press Trust of India (PTI).

"Someone has drawn our attention to something very very serious. We don't know yet whose claim is bona fide but we would like to go into the root of the matter,” said an SC bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi.

The court has asked the West Bengal government headed by Mamata Banerjee to file its reply within a month.

Rujira Banerjee, the wife of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, was found carrying two kilos of gold at the Kolkata Airport by customs authorities.

When customs officials questioned her about the gold (valued at more than Rs 68 lakh), she reportedly called up her husband. Soon, several senior Kolkata Police officers reached the airport and tried to whisk her away allegedly.

BJP leaders have called for a detailed inquiry.

Constitutional Anarchy

Earlier Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi that central enforcement agencies were in a “perpetual state of fear” and were being hounded for performing their duties in the state. "There is a constitutional anarchy in West Bengal if I may say it succinctly," said Mehta.

Citing the incident of Banerjee’s wife at the airport which prompted the Calcutta High Court’s order, Mehta added, "This lady was stopped at the Kolkata airport by the custom officials to check her luggage. She also happens to be the wife of a sitting MP of the ruling party. Suddenly local police start coming in and asking the custom officials to stop from their duties," said Mehta.

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