HOUSE ARREST FOR MINISTERS AS JUSTICES DIFFER
KOLKATA: The Calcutta HC on Friday ordered four heavyweight Bengal politicians be kept under house arrest after a difference of opinion split the two-judge bench on granting the leaders interim bail in a corruption case. Senior ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC legislator Madan Mitra and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee will be placed under house arrest until a bigger bench hears the case, the court said. “There was a difference of opinion between acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice Arijit Banerjee over the bail plea of the four accused,” said Manishankhar Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee’s advocate.
KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered four heavyweight Bengal politicians be kept under house arrest after a difference of opinion split the two-judge bench on granting the leaders interim bail in a corruption case.
Senior ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Madan Mitra and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee will be placed under house arrest, the court said.
A five-judge bench, headed by acting chief justice of Calcutta high court Rajesh Bindal, formed later in the day is expected to hear the matter at 11 am next week on Monday.
The four have been in judicial custody since Monday after the CBI arrested them in connection with the 2016 Narada bribery sting operation.
“There was a difference of opinion between acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice Arijit Banerjee over the bail plea of the four accused. So, the division bench ordered that a large bench be constituted to hear the matter. Till then, the four accused would be kept under house arrest,” said Manishankhar Chatterjee, Subrata Mukhersent jee’s advocate.
The four had secured bail from a special CBI court on Monday but hours later, the high court stayed the order. CJ Bindal was opposed to vacating the stay but justice Banerjee favoured it.
On Friday, advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing Subrata Mukherjee, told the court that Hakim’s presence was necessary for managing the Covid crisis in Kolkata. “As two of the accused persons are ministers in the state government, the court also permitted them access to administrative files and to meet government officials through video conferencing,” said Manishankhar Chatterjee.
As per the court order, “government officials will not have any direct access to the accused. Meetings can be held through video conference and files can be to them online. A complete log of the video conference will be maintained. Record of any person visiting the house of the accused has to be maintained. Jail authorities will install CCTVS at the entry point of the houses. Any lapse shall be seriously viewed.”
The four leaders were hospitalised after complaining of illness on Tuesday. Hakim was admitted to Presidency Correctional Home’s hospital while the rest to state-run SSKM Hospital. The hospital authorities have set up a medical board to treat them. While Hakim returned home late on Friday, the other three accused were still undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital. Soon after returning home, Hakim held a virtual meeting with officials of Kolkata Municipal Corporation to take stock of the preparedness for cyclone Yaas that is expected to hit the state on May 26.
The case against the four pertains to news portal Narada News’s two-year-long sting operation. The videos of the operation were uploaded months ahead of the 2016 West Bengal assembly elections and purportedly showed some TMC leaders accepting money in exchange for alleged favours to a fictitious company. CBI’S plea to transfer the Narada trial out of the state is also pending before the HC.
THE TWO-JUDGE BENCH SPLIT ON THE ISSUE OF GRANTING THE LEADERS INTERIM BAIL. THE MATTER IS EXPECTED TO BE TAKEN UP BY A LARGER BENCH NEXT WEEK