MP High Court Vacates Arrest Warrant Stay for TMC Leader Abhishek Banerjee
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has vacated the interim stay on an arrest warrant issued against TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee in a defamation case. The court acted after the petitioner failed to appear for hearings, ending the temporary protection granted in November 2025.
Highlights
- •The MP High Court revoked the interim stay on an arrest warrant for TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee.
- •The warrant stems from a 2020 defamation suit filed by BJP leader Akash Vijayvargiya.
- •Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal ordered the stay to be vacated due to the petitioner's absence during hearings.
- •The court has directed the Registry to inform the Bhopal-based trial court of this update immediately.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has officially vacated the interim protection previously granted to Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee regarding an outstanding arrest warrant in a high-profile defamation case. This legal development follows a clear warning issued by the court to the petitioner's legal team regarding their repeated absence during scheduled hearings.
Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal, presiding over the single bench, issued the order on Wednesday. The court noted that no legal representatives appeared on behalf of the TMC leader during the initial proceedings. Expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of progress, the court observed that the petitioner appeared to have lost interest in actively pursuing the case. Consequently, the stay on the arrest warrant—which was originally granted on November 12, 2025—was revoked, and the court directed the Registry to inform the relevant trial court of this decision immediately.
Background of the Defamation Case
The origins of this defamation case date back to an election rally held in Kolkata in November 2020. During the event, Abhishek Banerjee, who serves as the General Secretary of the TMC and is the nephew of the outgoing Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, made remarks that sparked significant controversy. Specifically, he referred to Akash Vijayvargiya, the son of the Madhya Pradesh urban development minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, as a ‘goon’.
At the time of the speech, Kailash Vijayvargiya was serving as the election in-charge for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal. Feeling aggrieved by the comments, Akash Vijayvargiya filed a formal defamation suit in the MP-MLA Special Judge court located in Bhopal. Following the complaint, the trial court issued an arrest warrant against the TMC Member of Parliament for his failure to appear in court.
Legal Proceedings and Court Intervention
Following the issuance of the warrant, Abhishek Banerjee sought relief from the Madhya Pradesh High Court to challenge the order. He was successful in securing an interim stay on the execution of the arrest warrant, allowing him temporary reprieve from arrest. However, the legal matter saw repeated adjournments in the months that followed.
The high court recently listed the case for a hearing on June 16, 2026, with a stern caveat. The bench explicitly warned that if the case were not argued by the petitioner’s counsel on the scheduled date, the interim stay would be vacated by June 17, 2026. With the petitioner failing to appear as instructed, the court proceeded to enforce the vacation of the stay order, marking a significant turn in the ongoing legal dispute between the political figures.
