This case came before the High Court Bench for hearing on interim bail of four Trinamool Congress leaders. A split verdict delivered by the bench of Justice Banerjee, held that interim bail should be granted however, acting C.J. Rajesh Bindal refused the bail (interim). As a result of this, the matter is referred to a five-judge bench, and in the meanwhile, the accused were directed to be kept under house arrest.
Background
A sting operation was performed by Narada News founder Mathew Samuel. In March 2017, the Calcutta HC ordered the investigation to be carried out by the CBI, in which the CBI filed FIR against 12 Trinamool leaders. On May 9, at the request of the CBI, the Governor of Wes Bengal cleared the prosecution of Subrata Mukherjee, Frihad Hakim, Madan Mitra, and Sovan Chatterjee.
On May 17, four leaders were arrested by the CBI, which was followed by a mob of 2000-3000 people collecting at the CBI office, thus the matter was referred to the bench for grant of bail to the accused.
Court Order
In the order, Justice Bindal has said that since the arguments were not complete, it would be “premature” to find a prima-facie case for interim bail.
“The reasons why this court had to pass an order, staying order of bail granted to the accused were unprecedented.”
It was also mentioned that the prayer seeking transfer of the case was also pending. The Court however observed that,
“Arguments of the CBI that- entire proceedings for grant of bail before the trial court were vitiated on account of unprecedented protests led by the Chief Minister in the office of CBI and by the Law Minister in the court complex, are yet to be examined. These have direct bearing on the ‘public trust and confidence of the people in the judicial system’ and the rule of law versus the mobocracy. Legal issues cannot be allowed to be raised and settled in streets, as these are not decided by show of strength but on merits of the controversy in accordance with law, for which a robust judicial system is available."
Lastly, the Court, keeping in mind the health issues and age, granted them house arrest instead of custody in jail.
Read Order@LatestLaws.com
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