India, June 11 -- Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee cannot be forced to make a statement against himself, the Calcutta High Court said on Thursday as it heard a plea filed by him linked to alleged forgery of signatures of newly-elected TMC MLAs. Banerjee has been granted protection from coercive action for three weeks.

Hearing arguments from both Banerjee's counsel and those seeking investigation, the court reportedly asked the Trinamool leader to appear before CID, noting that he was ready to cooperate.

"You cannot compel an accuse to give a statement against himself like this. He can say he doesn't know. You conduct search and seizure, question him," the high court bench said, according to a LiveLaw report.

The forged signatures controv...