The company Leaps and Bounds Private Limited has moved to the centre of a growing political and legal controversy in Kolkata after civic authorities began investigating properties allegedly linked to Trinamool
Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and his associates.
On Monday, officials from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation initiated a probe into the “legality” of several properties connected to Banerjee.
Civic officials visited multiple locations, including ‘Shantiniketan’ on Harish Mukherjee Road, and pasted notices under Section 401 of the KMC Act.
What is Leaps and Bounds?
Leaps and Bounds Private Limited is Abhishek Banerjee’s corporate entity. The company was formed in 2012 as a private limited company under West Bengal domicile. The Enforcement Directorate and courts have referred to Banerjee as the CEO and a key director of the company until 2018.
As per reports, Leaps and Bounds is a consultancy and business‑services firm. It controls 24 real‑estate holdings in Kolkata that are now under scrutiny.
Notices pasted at properties
According to KMC officials, the notices marked the first step in investigating alleged irregularities in a property.
Officials said notices were pasted at several buildings linked to Abhishek Banerjee and some of his associates.
A KMC buildings department team visited ‘Shantiniketan’ on Monday afternoon. After reportedly failing to receive any response from the Diamond Harbour MP, officials pasted a notice on the wall of the building.
Under the KMC Act, such notices are issued when at least a part of a building is allegedly constructed without civic approval.
A KMC official said serving such a notice could also pave the way for demolition if major violations were detected.
Later in the day, the notice pasted at ‘Shantiniketan’ was reportedly found torn off the wall.
Tax and property records under review
Sources in the civic body said the assessment department had identified 42 properties either owned or co-owned by Banerjee.
Officials have been asked to examine records of each property and identify whether any property taxes remain unpaid.
“We have been asked to assess records of each property owned by Banerjee and associates and collect uncleared property taxes,” an official said.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has been controlled by the Trinamool Congress since 2010.
Banerjee family preparing legal fight
Senior Trinamool Congress leaders said the civic action had upset the Banerjee family, which has now decided to challenge the move legally. According to party, several senior leaders are in touch with the family and discussions are underway regarding future legal steps.
A senior Trinamool leader described the development as “vendetta politics”.
“The process of collecting all necessary legal documents and getting them vetted has begun. Lawyers are being consulted, and preparations for a legal battle have started,” the leader said.
What CM Suvendu Adhikari said?
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari later said properties owned by Banerjee and three others were under investigation.
Addressing a rally at Vardaan Market, Adhikari said the government would act against those accused in corruption cases.
He claimed that Abhishek Banerjee had 14 properties linked to Leaps and Bounds, four properties in his own name and six in his father’s name.
Adhikari also named promoter Raju Naskar, Sona Pappu and the son of former minister Javed Khan while speaking about property investigations.
The Chief Minister further claimed that Kolkata Police DC Santanu Sinha Biswas and former minister Sujit Bose had already been arrested.
He asserted that the BJP government would send “every corrupt person behind bars”.
Earlier ED probe
The controversy surrounding the company is now part of a wider political confrontation between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP-led West Bengal government.
Authorities have flagged around 24 properties in Kolkata allegedly connected to Leaps and Bounds and Abhishek Banerjee.
Several of these properties have reportedly received notices over alleged illegal construction or deviations from approved plans.
The company had earlier come under the scanner during Enforcement Directorate investigations linked to the West Bengal school-jobs corruption case.
The latest civic action has now added a fresh legal and political dimension to the dispute surrounding the company and its real-estate holdings.
Leaps and Bounds is not just a back-office consultancy firm on paper; it is now being treated as a politically sensitive corporate vehicle at the centre of money-laundering investigations, recruitment corruption cases and a major property controversy in Kolkata.
