Adhikari widens medical-record dispute with Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has warned former chief minister Mamata Banerjee that further medical documents could be made public if she pursues questions over the disclosure of records concerning her 2021 Nandigram leg injury.
Adhikari issued the warning on Monday after Banerjee's lawyer served legal notices connected to state-run SSKM Hospital and the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, seeking an explanation for how her medical records allegedly reached the chief minister and entered the public domain without her consent.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting at Nabanna, Adhikari said he could produce additional material, including X-ray plates and MRI reports. He told Banerjee not to probe the issue too deeply and said the source of the documents could also be disclosed if necessary.
Adhikari maintained that the records he possessed had not come from SSKM Hospital. He did not identify their source, but said he would reveal where they came from if required. He also made claims about documents kept at Nabanna by the previous administration, without establishing that those records were the source of the medical material he displayed.
Banerjee's counsel, Arka Nag, sent the notice by email to senior doctors associated with SSKM and Bangur Institute, while a copy was also sent to the state health department's principal secretary. The notice sought details about the alleged disclosure and questioned whether Banerjee's consent had been obtained before confidential medical information was made public.
The dispute centres on a document Adhikari displayed at a press conference on Saturday, which he identified as a March 11, 2021 report from the Department of Radio Diagnosis at Bangur Institute. He said the document recorded no evidence of a fracture and used it to allege that Banerjee had fabricated the injury during the 2021 Assembly election campaign.
That allegation remains disputed. A report showing no fracture does not by itself establish that no injury occurred, and accounts from the time described Banerjee as having suffered injuries to her left ankle and foot, as well as complaints involving other parts of her body. She was treated at SSKM Hospital and subsequently campaigned in a wheelchair with her leg in a cast.
Adhikari has also said his government will investigate what he describes as false claims surrounding the episode. No finding from such an inquiry has yet established that Banerjee staged or fabricated her injuries.
The renewed dispute has emerged as Nandigram again becomes an electoral focus. Adhikari defeated Banerjee there in the 2021 Assembly election after a closely fought contest, while Banerjee's Trinamool Congress retained power across West Bengal. The constituency is now facing a by-election, adding an immediate political dimension to the confrontation.
The original incident occurred on March 10, 2021, while Banerjee was campaigning in Nandigram. She said at the time that several people had pushed her near her vehicle, causing the door to strike her leg. The Election Commission later concluded, after considering reports from special observers and the state administration, that the evidence did not support a premeditated attack.
The commission treated the episode as involving a security lapse and took action against officials responsible for Banerjee's protection. Its findings did not amount to a determination that Banerjee had invented her injuries, a distinction that has become relevant as the medical controversy has resurfaced.
Banerjee's legal notice shifts part of the dispute from the political arena to questions of medical confidentiality and custody of patient records. Her lawyer has alleged that disclosure without permission would breach the confidentiality owed to a patient and has sought an explanation from the doctors concerned.
The state health department has been drawn into the matter because the institutions involved are government-run. Adhikari said the department should forward Banerjee's complaint to him, while signalling that he intended to respond politically to any attempt to challenge his possession or publication of the records.
Adhikari issued the warning on Monday after Banerjee's lawyer served legal notices connected to state-run SSKM Hospital and the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, seeking an explanation for how her medical records allegedly reached the chief minister and entered the public domain without her consent.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting at Nabanna, Adhikari said he could produce additional material, including X-ray plates and MRI reports. He told Banerjee not to probe the issue too deeply and said the source of the documents could also be disclosed if necessary.
Adhikari maintained that the records he possessed had not come from SSKM Hospital. He did not identify their source, but said he would reveal where they came from if required. He also made claims about documents kept at Nabanna by the previous administration, without establishing that those records were the source of the medical material he displayed.
Banerjee's counsel, Arka Nag, sent the notice by email to senior doctors associated with SSKM and Bangur Institute, while a copy was also sent to the state health department's principal secretary. The notice sought details about the alleged disclosure and questioned whether Banerjee's consent had been obtained before confidential medical information was made public.
The dispute centres on a document Adhikari displayed at a press conference on Saturday, which he identified as a March 11, 2021 report from the Department of Radio Diagnosis at Bangur Institute. He said the document recorded no evidence of a fracture and used it to allege that Banerjee had fabricated the injury during the 2021 Assembly election campaign.
That allegation remains disputed. A report showing no fracture does not by itself establish that no injury occurred, and accounts from the time described Banerjee as having suffered injuries to her left ankle and foot, as well as complaints involving other parts of her body. She was treated at SSKM Hospital and subsequently campaigned in a wheelchair with her leg in a cast.
Adhikari has also said his government will investigate what he describes as false claims surrounding the episode. No finding from such an inquiry has yet established that Banerjee staged or fabricated her injuries.
The renewed dispute has emerged as Nandigram again becomes an electoral focus. Adhikari defeated Banerjee there in the 2021 Assembly election after a closely fought contest, while Banerjee's Trinamool Congress retained power across West Bengal. The constituency is now facing a by-election, adding an immediate political dimension to the confrontation.
The original incident occurred on March 10, 2021, while Banerjee was campaigning in Nandigram. She said at the time that several people had pushed her near her vehicle, causing the door to strike her leg. The Election Commission later concluded, after considering reports from special observers and the state administration, that the evidence did not support a premeditated attack.
The commission treated the episode as involving a security lapse and took action against officials responsible for Banerjee's protection. Its findings did not amount to a determination that Banerjee had invented her injuries, a distinction that has become relevant as the medical controversy has resurfaced.
Banerjee's legal notice shifts part of the dispute from the political arena to questions of medical confidentiality and custody of patient records. Her lawyer has alleged that disclosure without permission would breach the confidentiality owed to a patient and has sought an explanation from the doctors concerned.
The state health department has been drawn into the matter because the institutions involved are government-run. Adhikari said the department should forward Banerjee's complaint to him, while signalling that he intended to respond politically to any attempt to challenge his possession or publication of the records.