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Narada case: Five-judge bench of Cal HC grants interim bail to the four TMC leaders

Sat, 29 May 2021 04:24:05 +0000

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The Calcutta High Court has granted interim bail to the four accused in the Narada sting operation case. The court had earlier stayed the interim bail granted to them by the CBI court and had put them under house arrest. The five-judge bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal along with Justices IP Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arijit Banerjee heard the matter and decided to grant interim bail. On May 21, Justice Banerjee favoured granting bail to the four, differing with Acting CJ Bindal on the matter. The Bench then sent the four to house arrest, and transferred the case to a larger Bench.

Hearing

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected to the grant of interim bail to the accused persons stating that they are influential persons, who can tamper with evidence or make public statements regarding this case or gather a mob whenever they are called for further investigation or the case is taken up for hearing.

The court, however found it fit and proper to grant bail to the accused namely Firhad Hakim, Madan Mitra, Sovan Chatterjee and Subrata Mukherjee subject to following conditions:

Each accused shall execute a bail bond of `2 lakhs with two sureties of like amount
The accused shall make themselves available for interrogation as and when required by the CBI, by virtual mode, keeping in mind the lockdown imposed in the state
The accused shall not tamper with the evidence or attempt to intimidate or influence the witnesses
The accused shall not give any press interview or make any public comments in connection with the cases

The court has directed the accused to file an undertaking by May 31 that they will comply with these conditions and stated that violation may entail cancellation of the interim relief granted.

The interim order is to continue until disposal of the proceedings or until further orders.

Background

On May 17, The CBI arrested TMC ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherji, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and ex-Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee in connection with a Narada sting operation. 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.

The bail granted by CBI court to the four accused was stayed by the Calcutta High Court. “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 high court had said on May 18.

On May 21, Justice Banerjee favoured granting bail to the four, differing with Acting CJ Bindal on the matter. The Bench then sent the four to house arrest, and transferred the case to a larger Bench.

The CBI has also filed a plea seeking transfer of the case from the CBI court to the High Court alleging that the Special CBI Court had come under pressure to grant the four leaders interim bail, and said, “If this mobocracy is not checked by the constitutional court, tomorrow we may have a situation where a gangster is arrested and his henchmen gherao the CBI office.”

The order may be read here:

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Narada case: House arrest for four accused, HC divided on bail

Fri, 21 May 2021 08:30:07 +0000

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The Calcutta High Court has ordered house arrest for four of the accused in the Narada sting case. The Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee, was reportedly split on the subject of granting bail.

TMC ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherji, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and ex-Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee who was previously a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had all been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday. Following their arrests, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had visited the Nizam Plaza office of the CBI and stayed there till the men were granted bail by a special CBI court. But the CBI moved the Calcutta High Court, which in turn stayed the CBI court’s bail order late on Monday itself.

Since then, the HC has been hearing the matter, even as Mukherjee, Chatterjee and Mitra were admitted to the SSKM Hospital’s Woodburn Ward, while Hakim remained in Presidency Jail. During the hearing at the High Court, the matter of Mamata Banerjee’s presence at the CBI office and the Law minister’s presence in the CBI Special Court’s complex were repeatedly brought up, as was the matter of protests outside the CBI office and the Governor’s residence. Hearing could not take place on Thursday due to “unavoidable circumstance”, but resumed on Friday.

According to LiveLaw, while Justice Banerjee was in favour of granting interim bail, ACJ Bindal was in favour of placing the accused under house arrest. The matter was therefore referred to a larger bench while the accused were placed under house arrest, where they will be provided all medical amenities. However, the bench declined the request made by the counsel for the accused to be released on interim bail until a larger bench decides on the subject.

According to LiveLaw, senior advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued, “These are ministers, MLAs. There is no flight risk,” and that they have hitherto cooperated with the investigation. But Justice Banerjee reportedly responded saying, “One of the members of this bench thought it fit to grant interim bail. The other member of the bench did not agree. So, this point of interim bail has to be considered by the larger bench. In the meantime, considering pandemic situation, house arrest has been given.”

As Madan Mitra is an MLA, the court has granted him permission to access files and hold meetings via video-conferencing with officials, so that he can continue to discharge his duties.

TO BE UPDATED WITH ORDER COPY

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Calcutta HC stays bail to Narada sting accused

Tue, 18 May 2021 08:58:49 +0000

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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.

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CBI arrests TMC leaders in Narada sting case

Mon, 17 May 2021 11:13:42 +0000

Image Courtesy: indiatoday.in

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three leaders of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and a former mayor in connection with a Narada sting operation. The case refers to a sting operation where all four were caught accepting bribes on camera. The move comes a week after West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar sanctioned prosecution against them.

The CBI arrested TMC ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherji, TMC MLA Madan Mitra and ex-Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee who was previously a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Following the arrest TMC supporters gathered outside the CBI office in Kolkata and held demonstrations. Mamata Banerjee too reached the Nizam Palace venue and refused to budge saying that the arrests were illegal.

Meanwhile, Banerjee’s nephew and TMC MP Abhishek urged party workers and supporters to refrain from violence. He tweeted, “I urge everyone to abide by the law & refrain from any activity that violates lockdown norms for the sake of the larger interest of Bengal and its people. We have utmost faith in the judiciary & the battle will be fought legally.”

I urge everyone to abide by the law & refrain from any activity that violates lockdown norms for the sake of the larger interest of Bengal and its people.

We have utmost faith in the judiciary & the battle will be fought legally.

— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) May 17, 2021

The governor too tweeted asking for law and order to be maintained:

Concerned at alarming situation. Call upon @MamataOfficial to follow constitutional norms & rule of law.

Police @WBPolice @KolkataPolice @HomeBengal must take all steps to maintain law & order.

Sad- situation is being allowed to drift with no tangible action by authorities.

— Governor West Bengal Jagdeep Dhankhar (@jdhankhar1) May 17, 2021

Meanwhile, The Telegraph quoted a CBI statement that said, “Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee have been arrested today by CBI anti-corruption bureau and are being produced in the jurisdictional court. On completion of investigation, prosecution sanction was sought against the public servants… Further investigation of the case shall continue.”

Senior lawyer and Congress spokesperson, Abhishek Manu Singhvi raised an interesting point when he tweeted about the possible illegality of the arrests saying, “West Bengal arrestees cannot be proceeded against without Speaker’s sanction. Hence lack of jurisdiction plus vindictive arrest plus timing of arrests, all smack of, steeped in and clearly proves cheapest and most vile vendetta.”

3/3As MLA’s, #WB arrestees cannot be proceeded against wo #Speaker’s sanction. Hence lack of jurisdiction plus vindictive arrests plus timing of arrests, all smack of, steeped in & clearly proves cheapest &most vile vendetta!

— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) May 17, 2021

About the Narada sting

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.

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