New Delhi: The Supreme Court has set aside an order of the Calcutta High Court and permitted Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee to travel abroad for three weeks for eye surgery and treatment, holding that his travel would cause no serious impediment to the ongoing investigation pending against him, subject to conditions including furnishing his travel itinerary and an undertaking regarding his passport.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana was hearing appeals arising out of Special Leave Petitions filed against a judgment and order dated 05.08.2026 passed by the High Court at Calcutta in WPA No.11489/2026 and CAN No.1/2026, by which the appellant's request to travel abroad had been declined.
Appearing for the appellant, Senior Counsel Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that the appellant required to travel abroad for a period of three weeks for the purpose of eye surgery and treatment. The Additional Solicitor General appeared for the respondents.
Having heard the parties, the Court held that no serious impediment would be caused to the ongoing investigation against the appellant if he were permitted to travel abroad for three weeks as prayed for. Notice was issued, and the learned AORs for the respondents accepted notice on their behalf. Leave was granted, and the appeals were allowed, setting aside the impugned order of the High Court.
It seems to us that no serious impediment shall be caused to the ongoing investigation pending against the appellant if he is permitted to travel abroad for a period of three weeks, as prayed for, for the purpose of eye surgery/treatment.
The Court permitted the appellant to travel abroad for three weeks, subject to the following conditions: that he furnish an affidavit undertaking that he holds no passport other than his diplomatic passport; that he furnish the itinerary of his visits, his place of residence in the foreign country, and a brief description of the doctors and hospitals where treatment would be obtained, along with his date of return, flight details and date of arrival in India, at least three days prior to departure; and that the authorities not publish the itinerary or other details so furnished.
The appeals were accordingly allowed and disposed of, along with all pending applications.
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv.; Ms. Aparna Bhat, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Nipun Saxena, Adv.; Mr. Agnish Basu, Adv.; Ms. Anisha Soni, Adv.; Mr. Vipul Vedant, Adv.; Mr. Aditya Roy, Adv.; Mr. Gourav Bose, Adv.; Mr. Dev Nagar, Adv.; Mr. B. D. Rao Kundan, Adv.; Mr. Vinayak Mangal, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Venugopal, Adv.; Ms. Vidhi Pankaj Thaker, AOR.
For the Respondent(s): Mr. S.V. Raju, A.S.G.; Mr. Rajdeep Majumdar, AAG; Mr. Nishant Awana, AOR; Mr. GS Awana, Adv.; Mr. Suraj Kundu, Adv.; Mr. Amogh Pandey, Adv.; Mr. Siddhesh Shirish Kotwal, AOR; Mr. Bikram Banerjee, Adv.; Ms. Manya Hasija, Adv.; Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Adv.; Mr. Arindam Samanta, Adv.; Ms. Sagarika Goswami, Adv.; Mr. T. Illayarasu, Adv.; Ms. Anupriya Poddar, Adv.; Mr. Saurabh Guha, Adv.; Mr. Shubhansh Patel, Adv.; Ms. Rajaswi Vatsa, Adv.
Case Title: Abhishek Banerjee vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors., Criminal Appeal Nos. of 2026 (Arising out of SLP(Crl.) Nos.14489-14490/2026)
