Overview
- On Friday the Calcutta High Court directed Banerjee to appear before the Bidhannagar magistrate at 12 noon on July 15 to record his voice sample after he missed earlier scheduled dates.
- The bench said its May 21 interim order shielding Banerjee from coercive police action was expressly conditional on cooperation and warned it would withdraw that protection or impose exemplary costs for further delay.
- Banerjee’s lawyer told the court the MP does not dispute that the voice in the contested recording is his, yet challenged the magistrate’s order and said Banerjee will appear only if adequate security is provided.
- The court ordered state police to ensure Banerjee’s safety from egg‑pelting or other harassment when he appears, and the Additional Advocate General assured the bench that protection would be arranged.
- The voice sample is a routine forensic measure the CID will use to compare recordings, and the July 15 deadline makes the next compliance step the key test of whether the court enforces sanctions or the investigation proceeds without further delay.