West Bengal / Calcutta HC grants interim bail to TMC leaders in Narada bribery case

Kolkata: The five judge-bench of Calcutta high court granted interim bail to all four political leaders arrested by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 2016 Narada sting operation case.

“The court has granted interim bail. They will have to abide by certain conditions imposed by the court,” said Manishankhar Chatterjee, advocate of Subrata Mukherjee, one of the accused leaders.

The bench headed by acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, gave certain conditions before the interim bail was granted. These include personal bonds of ₹2 lakh each, as well as two sureties.

“The court also said that the leaders will join the investigation by video conference and they will not give any media statement on the pending trial on the Narada case. The interim bail will, however, be subject to final outcome of the case,” said Niladri Bhattacharya, the advocate of Madan Mitra, another accused.

The CBI had, on May 17, arrested Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, two Cabinet ministers, Madan Mitra, a legislator, and Sovan Chatterjee, a former mayor, in connection with the 2016 Narada sting operation case.

Even though a special CBI court had granted them interim bail on the same day, the Calcutta high court had later stayed the bail and sent them to judicial custody.

The solicitor general appearing for the CBI opposed the interim bail when the high court proposed it on Friday.

On May 21, the division bench of acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and justice Arijit Banerjee put the accused persons under house arrest and constituted a larger five-judge bench to hear the bail petitions.

While Mitra is being treated at a state-run hospital, the remaining three returned home.