A special Kolkata court for MPs and MLAs has issued a summon to Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah in connection to a defamation case against him by Trinamool Congress MP and party chief Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
The court asked Shah to appear for an in-person hearing on 22 February.
The case pertains to a rally in August 2018 when Amit Shah had made certain comments about Abhishek.
"... Narada, Sarada, Rose Valley, Syndicate's Corruption, Nephew's corruption, a series of corruption has been by Mamataji," Shah allegedly said about Abhishek, at the rally in Kolkata.
"The residents of the villages in Bengal, has the money reached your village? Please say loudly. Has the money reached your village? Where did it go? Where? Modiji had sent it. Where did Rs 3,59,000 crore go? This has been gifted to the nephew and the syndicate. This has been sacrificed at the altar of corruption by the Trinamool Congress," Shah further said according to Abhishek's complaint.
In response to these statements, Banerjee had filed a defamation case against Shah on 28 August 2018.
The summon comes as Shah is on a two-day tour of Bengal, which started on 17 February. West Bengal is slated to go to polls in April-May 2021.
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