BREAKING : Calcutta High Court Grants Interim Bail To 4 Trinamool Leaders In Narada Case

A 5-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday granted interim bail to four Trinamool Congress leaders- Firhad Hakim, Madan Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee and Sovan Chatterjee- who have been under judicial custody since their arrest by the CBI in the Narada case on May 17.

They were placed under house arrest on May 19, following a split in the division bench on the question of interim bail, and the matter was referred to the larger bench.

A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, Justices IP Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arijit Mukherjee passed the order after considering the applications filed by the arrested leaders seeking recall of the May 17 order passed by the division bench, which had stayed the bail granted to them.

The bench imposed a condition that the four leaders should not make press statements or make media discussions on the pending trial in the Narada case. The bench also clarified that the interim-bail will be subject to the final order in the case, and that the same will stand cancelled, if the CBI succeeds in its petition.

The have been asked to furnish a personal bond of Rupees two lakhs with two solvent sureties. They should also join the investigation, if called, through video-conferencing.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, opposed the grant of interim-bail by saying that the accused are influential enough to affect the pending trial. The SG also said that the accused have the potential to gather a mob by arousing public emotions, which can derail the investigation or the trial.

At this juncture, the bench asked the Solicitor General if it is necessary to keep the arrested leaders - two of them Cabinet Ministers and one of them a legislator- under custody when they were not arrested during the investigation for over 4 years.

"Mr.Solicitor General, we want to make one observation. The investigation started in 2017. They were not arrested during investigation. Normally, arrest is to facilitate investigation. They continue to be as powerful as earlier. Why arrest now?", Justice IP Mukerji, the second senior judge of the bench, asked.

Justice Mukerji asked the Solicitor General why the TMC leaders, who have not been arrested during the investigation for over 4 years, should be kept in house-arrest now, when they are required to do public functions during pandemic.

The Solicitor General also wanted the court to impose a condition that the accused persons should not gather a mob or cause public protests if they are asked to appear for investigation or trial.

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the accused, opposed this.

"As regards the condition of mob gathering, if this court orders that, it will be presumed that they had gathered mob. It is like asking have you stopped beating your wife. These kind of submissions are made only for the press, to humiliate them", Dr.Singhvi said.

Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra, also appearing for the accused, suggested that they can be asked to appear for investigation through VC.

Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, another counsel appearing for the accused, said that he has raised preliminary objections to the maintainability of the petition filed by the CBI - which seeks transfer of the case from the trial court and declaration that the bail hearing was vitiated due to mob pressure. The bench told him that all issues are left open.

The bench will continue the hearing of the main matter on Monday, May 31, at 12 noon.

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