Akash Banerjee's petition restored; execution of Bhopal court's warrant stayed

Bhopal: A single-judge bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has restored Trinamool Congress leader and MP Abhishek Banerjee’s petition and extended the stay on execution of an arrest warrant issued by a special court in Bhopal in connection with a defamation case filed by Akash Vijayvargiya, son of Urban Administration Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya.The court had earlier dismissed the petition on June 17 and vacated the stay, citing repeated absence of Banerjee or his counsel from hearings and observing that he appeared to have lost interest in pursuing the matter. But on Wednesday, the bench of Justice Pramod Kumar allowed an application seeking restoration of the petition and continued the stay on the warrant.Akash Vijayvargiya had filed the defamation suit before a special court designated to hear cases against politicians, alleging that Banerjee lowered his dignity by calling him a “gunda” at a public meeting in Kolkata in 2020.