Calcutta HC stays bail to Narada sting accused

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The Calcutta High Court stayed the bail granted to four people: two Trinamool Congress (TMC) ministers, one TMC MLA and a former mayor of Kolkata, arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Narada sting operation case.

This, just hours after a special CBI court granted bail to TMC ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherji, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and ex-Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee, against a bond of Rs 50,000 with two sureties of Rs 25,000 each and on the condition that they would cooperate with the police.

All four had been arrested earlier on Monday leading to protests outside the CBI office and Governor’s residence given how two other high-profile accused: Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari (who quit the TMC and are now BJP members) were not arrested despite being implicated in the same case. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too arrived at the CBI office in Nizam Palace and stayed put till the CBI court granted the four men bail.

But the CBI moved Calcutta HC that stayed the bail by the CBI. In its order, the HC noted the protests as well as the CM’s “dharna” at the CBI office observing, “This court has been called upon to deal with an extra-ordinary situation where Chief Minister of the State can sit on a dharna outside the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation (for short, ‘CBI’) along with her supporters, which had investigated the case and was to present a charge-sheet in court against the accused who are senior party leaders of the party in power in the State, some of them being Ministers. Not only this, the Law Minister of the State was present in Court where the accused were to be presented along with mob of 2000 to 3000 supporters.”

The court also recorded the CBI’s email to the Chief Justice and Registrar General of the HC where the investigation agency pointed out “certain glaring facts regarding the manner in which the Chief Minister, Law Minister and other senior Ministers of the Government in the State of West Bengal along with their supporters in thousands were obstructing CBI in discharge of its official duties.”

The order mentions the Chief Minister’s presence at the CBI Office and the presence of the Law Minister in the Court Complex of the CBI court multiple times and notes the plea to have the case transferred under provisions of section 407 of the CrPC. The High Court recorded the following in its order:

“With reference to the arguments in terms of provisions of Section 407 Cr.P.C. raised by the Ld. Solicitor General of India, it was submitted that the matter has to be listed before a Single Bench. There are certain pre-conditions which are required to be complied with for filing an application. It has to be accompanied by an W.P.A 10504 of 2021 6 affidavit. The material before the Court is not sufficient to exercise that power. He further submitted that he did not have any instruction with regard to the presence of the Law Minister in the Court. It was further argued that in case any application is filed under Section 407 Cr.P.C., all the affected parties are to be heard which include victim, accused and the witnesses of the case as well. In response, learned Solicitor General of India submitted that powers under Section 407 Cr.P.C. can be exercised by the Court if it is expedient in the ends of justice. The letter sent by the CBI to this Court mentions the presence of Chief Minister in the CBI Office. That itself is a sufficient ground for transfer of the case. The matter may be taken up immediately as otherwise the people will get a message that with mobocracy, any order can be secured by putting pressure.”

As far as the bail given to the four accused is concerned, the High Court said, “We are not touching the merits of the controversy but the manner in which pressure was sought to be put will not inspire confidence of the people in the rule of law. As during the period when the arguments were heard, the order was passed by the Court below, we deem it appropriate to stay that order and direct that the accused person shall be treated to be in judicial custody till further orders. The authority in whose custody they are kept shall ensure that they have all medical facilities available as are required and they are treated in terms of the provisions of the Jail Manual.”

The court then adjourned the matter till May 19. The entire High Court order may be read here:

About the Narada sting

The sting operation was carried out by Narada News portal CEO Mathew Samuel in 2014, but the tapes that show as many as 12 leaders taking bribes were made public only in 2016 around the time of elections. Interestingly, among the 12 were Mukul Roy and Suvendu Adhikari who have since jumped ship to the BJP. Interestingly, the BJP quietly removed a video of the sting operation from its Youtube site.

The Calcutta High Court had ordered a probe into the case in 2017, and the Supreme Court rejected a plea by the West Bengal government for a stay on the order for a probe.