Bengal Cong leader shoots off letter to Singhvi over taking brief of Abhishek Banerjee

Kolkata, April 30 (IANS) Congress leader in West Bengal and counsel of the Calcutta High Court, Kaustav Bagchi on Sunday wrote a strongly-worded letter to his senior party colleague and lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi over the latter's taking a brief for Trinamool Congress' Abhishek Banerjee case in the Supreme court.

In the letter, Bagchi has pointed out that although as a professional and senior advocate Singhvi has every right to choose any brief, as a senior leader of the Congress he cannot ignore his obligations towards his party and party workers.

Bagchi also pointed out that Singhvi's decision to take the brief of Abhishek Banerjee is having a negative impact on the credibility of Congress in West Bengal. A copy of the letter is available with IANS.

"In West Bengal, the Congress is relentlessly fighting against the corrupt and oppressive Trinamool Congress, being the ruling dispensation in the state of West Bengal. But our credibility falls flat when you choose to defend the ruling dispensation in the state of West Bengal and its leader. Workers and leaders of West Bengal Pradesh Congress unequivocally say that WE ARE ASHAMED OF YOU," Bagchi's letter says.

Immediately after the Supreme Court on Monday ordered transferring the cases against Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee from Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court, Bagchi criticized Singhvi as the latter was holding the brief of Abhishek Banerjee in that case.

"Singhvi might put forward the same old argument of professional compulsion of a practicing counsel. But he must not forget that besides being a practicing counsel he is also a senior Congress leader. The ordinary Congress workers in West Bengal have immense difficulty in accepting such people as leaders. The party leader is at liberty to take any action against me for making such a comment," he said.

To recall, in May last year, it was Bagchi who had led a protest at the Calcutta High Court premises against senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, who is a leading lawyer too, for appearing to argue a case on behalf of the state's Trinamool Congress government in a case filed by state Congress president in West Bengal and veteran party MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

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