Calcutta HC grants interim bail to four accused politicians- bail against personal bonds of Rs 2 lakh each and to meet the IO virtually whenever required

Legal experts said this meant that after a detailed hearing of the case the court could, if necessary, issue orders to re-arrest them

Calcutta High Court: File picture

Tapas Ghosh   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |  29.05.21: A five-judge bench of Calcutta High Court on Friday granted interim bail to all the four politicians arrested last week by the CBI in the Narada case, closing for now an unusual chapter in the history of the oldest high court in the country.

The bench of acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justices I.P. Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arijit Banerjee granted interim bail to the four accused against personal bonds of Rs 2 lakh each and asked them to meet the investigating officer virtually whenever they were required for interrogation.

The five-judge bench directed the accused — panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee, transport minister Firhad Hakim, Trinamul Congress MLA Madan Mitra and former mayor Sovan Chatterjee who recently left the BJP — not to make any comments before the media relating to the Narada case.

The court added that they were only being granted interim bail and should abide by the final order. Legal experts said this meant that after a detailed hearing of the case the court could, if necessary, issue orders to re-arrest them.

The court decision followed a petition from the accused on Thursday seeking recall of the May 19 high court order that had put them under house arrest when two judges of the division bench could not reach a consensus.

Justice Bindal had felt that bail then would have been premature while Justice Banerjee was in favour of releasing the accused with conditions.

The uncommon events at the high court, including a late sitting that stayed the bail order of the trial court and delivered a split ruling on bail, had drawn attention across the country, and the Supreme Court had commented on them.

Around noon on Friday, the virtual hearing of the bail petition resumed. The acting Chief Justice informed the CBI counsel and solicitor-general of India, Tushar Mehta, that the bench was in favour of granting interim bail to the accused.

Opposing the bench’s proposal, the CBI counsel contended that being very influential, the accused might tamper with evidence.

Justice Mukerji asked Mehta: “You initiated the case in 2017 when these persons were as influential as they are now. Then why did you not arrest them then? What was the urgency to arrest now?”

After granting bail to the four accused, the acting Chief Justice assured the CBI counsel that the case would not be sent to the cold storage.

“The court will hear the case in detail. In the meantime, we are granting interim bail to them. The court can issue arrest orders if needed in the future,” Justice Bindal said.

Mehta said: “The court should then impose certain conditions and the leaders should not be allowed to meet mediapersons.”

The judges sought five minutes, after which the acting Chief Justice pronounced the order.

“After the day’s order, the accused will have liberty to move wherever they want and perform their regular activities,” said advocate Manishankar Chatterjee, counsel for minister Subrata Mukherjee.

The four accused were arrested by the CBI on May 17. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had rushed to the CBI office at Nizam Palace and five of her cabinet colleagues, including law minister Malay Ghatak, had gone to the CBI court.

Outside the CBI office, Trinamul supporters laid siege to the road, all of which prompted the CBI to claim interference by the state administration in the legal process.