West Bengal Moves Supreme Court Against Bail To Congress Nandigram Candidate Milan Pradhan
West Bengal government seeks urgent stay of Calcutta High Court’s interim bail to Pradhan; Supreme Court lists appeal for October 5.
Supreme Court was told Pradhan, who is facing murder charges, has been granted bail specifically to contest the Nandigram Assembly bypoll.
The West Bengal government has approached Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order granting interim bail to Congress candidate Milan Pradhan in six criminal cases linked to the 2007 Nandigram land-acquisition agitation.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State, sought urgent hearing of the appeal before a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana.
Mehta submitted that Pradhan is facing murder charges and has been granted bail specifically to contest the Nandigram Assembly bypoll. He urged that the matter be taken up before Thursday, pointing out that the election is scheduled for October 6.
The Chief Justice declined the request for Thursday listing and said that the matter would be heard on October 5, one day before polling. The Court also indicated that it would be dismissing the state's plea, with the CJI observing, "We will dismiss it..but not tomorrow, we will dismiss it on Monday..".
State has challenged the September 29 order of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of the Calcutta High Court, under which Pradhan was granted interim bail in six cases dating back to 2007. Four of the cases involve allegations of murder, while the cases also include allegations relating to rioting and other offences.
The High Court had granted the interim relief to enable Pradhan to participate in the October 6 Nandigram bypoll. It directed him to surrender before the Haldia court after the period of interim bail.
Pradhan was arrested on September 18 after filing his nomination for the Nandigram bypoll. His arrest related to cases registered in connection with incidents during the 2007 anti-land-acquisition movement. His argued before the High Court that the cases were nearly two decades old and that he should be allowed to campaign in the election.