Madhya Pradesh High Court Stays Arrest Warrant Against Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee in Defamation Case

Justice Agarwal reserved the order and granted interim protection to Abhishek Banerjee.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court provided relief to Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Monday by staying the arrest warrant issued against him. The warrant stemmed from a defamation case filed by former Indore BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, son of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya.

Previously, the Bhopal MP-MLA Court had issued the warrant after Banerjee consistently failed to attend scheduled hearings.

Justice Pramod Kumar Agarwal, presiding over a single-judge bench, suspended the arrest warrant and issued notices to all involved parties, including complainant Vijayvargiya. The court has requested responses from all parties within a week, with the next hearing scheduled for December 18.

Banerjee was represented in the High Court by senior advocates Anil Khare and M Agarwal, who contended that the arrest warrant lacked justification. They further argued that the defamation complaint was based on a misrepresented version of Banerjee's statement.

The origin of this legal dispute traces back to November 2020, when Banerjee allegedly called Akash Vijayvargiya a "goon" during a public meeting in Kolkata. Taking offense to this characterization, Akash filed a defamation complaint in 2021.

The case has been ongoing in the Bhopal MP-MLA Court, but records indicate that Banerjee has not attended any hearings since proceedings commenced on May 1, 2021. Judicial Magistrate Tathagat Yagnik, considering this persistent absence serious, issued an arrest warrant for hearings between August 11 and August 26, 2025. Subsequently, Banerjee challenged this warrant in the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

During proceedings at the High Court, Banerjee's legal team argued that his statement at the rally had been misrepresented and sensationalized, forming the foundation for the defamation suit. They urged the court to suspend the warrant pending a comprehensive examination of the matter.

After considering the arguments presented, Justice Agarwal reserved the order and granted temporary protection to the Trinamool MP, who is also the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

With the arrest warrant now suspended, the case enters its next phase. The High Court will evaluate responses from all parties before determining the validity of the defamation proceedings.