The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal Police not to take any coercive action against Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee till July 31 over his allegedly provocative remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah at political rallies during the Assembly election campaign, Live Law reported.Justice Saugata Bhattacharya said that Banerjee did not need to be interrogated in custody, and that his rights were protected under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The provision states that in cases where a person does not need to be arrested in connection with an investigation, the police needs to send a notice requiring their presence during the investigation.The judge directed Banerjee to cooperate with the investigative agency and comply with notices issued to him, Live Law reported. The police should give at least 48 hours’ time to the TMC MP in the notices, the court added.However, Bhattacharya objected to Banerjee’s remark from a rally in which he had asked “which godfather” from Delhi would “come to their rescue” after the election results, in apparent references to Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party workers.“Being a Member of Parliament, how such statement could have been made,” Bar and Bench quoted the judge as asking. “I am repeating, these statements were uncalled for.”In response, Banerjee’s lawyer Kalyan Bandopadhyay, questioned whether the statement had in fact led to any violence.“Complainant has not cited any incident,” Bar and Bench quoted the lawyer as saying. “If nothing has happened, it cannot be taken into cognisance.”The case will be heard further on July 20.The first information report in the matter was filed based on a complaint alleging that Banerjee made inflammatory remarks in speeches during the West Bengal election campaign between April 27 and May 3.The speeches made by the TMC’s national general secretary promoted enmity and disturbed public tranquillity, the complainant alleged, adding that it also included threats directed at the Union home minister.The complaint was filed on May 5, a day after the BJP defeated the TMC in the Assembly elections, ending its 15-year tenure in the state.HC stays coercive action against TMC MLAIn a separate case, the High Court stayed coercive action against TMC MLA Paresh Ram Das till June 30, Bar and Bench reported.Das approached the High Court after six criminal cases were filed against him on May 16 at the Canning Police Station. His lawyer argued that the cases were the result of “political vengeance” after the election result and change in government in West Bengal, Bar and Bench reported.Most of the complaints dated back to 2021, the lawyer further told the court.The court on Thursday verbally expressed doubts about the genuineness of the sixth case.“Prima facie it appears the petitioner’s name at the bottom of the complaint was written in a different manner,” Bar and Bench quoted the judge as saying. “Since investigation is at a nascent stage, more than that, court is not making any observation.”Edited by Sara Varghese.