Kolkata, Sep 5 Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Gaurang Kanth on Tuesday gave permission to Kunal Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress state general secretary and the party spokesman in West Bengal to accompany Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on her overseas tour next month to scout for investments for the state.
The bench rejected the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s contention that since Ghosh is an accused in the multi- crore Saradha chit fund case and is currently released on bail, he should not be permitted to travel abroad.
Permitting Ghosh to make the overseas trip, the division- bench observed that while being released on bail he had made overseas trips earlier too and there was no charge of breaching any rule against him during the previous foreign trips.
“Kunal Ghosh might be an accused in the case. But the charges are yet to be proved against him. Foreign travel is anyone’s fundamental right and hence it cannot be stopped,” Justice Bagchi observed. He also observed that the central agency has also failed to justify its point on how its investigation in the matter will be hampered if Ghosh is allowed to make an overseas trip.
Ghosh was released on conditional bail in 2016. Initially, there were restrictions even on his travel outside the state. Although at a later stage those restrictions were lifted, restrictions on his overseas trips without the permission of the central agencies continued.
A delegation led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is supposed to travel to Dubai and Spain from September 12 to September 23, where Ghosh is slated to be a member of the delegation. The main aim of the chief minister’s overseas trip this time will be to interact with the non-resident Indian (NRI) businessmen settled there mainly in Dubai and Madrid.
The chief minister is expected to highlight the nature of cooperation and assistance that the state government is willing to provide for the sake of fresh investments in the state.
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