The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the house arrest of the two Bengal cabinet ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee and two former ministers Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee in connection with the Narada sting case.
The TMC leaders’ counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi sought a stay on the house arrest order. Three of the top TMC leaders of Bengal, Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee and Madan Mitra along with former Mayor Sovan Chatterjee were arrested by CBI after high drama on Monday.
Justice Arijit Banerjee of the Calcutta HC bench has agreed to grant interim bail to the arrested TMC leaders. However, the acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal has ordered house arrest and said let the matter be referred to a larger bench for interim bail.
Meanwhile, CBI has sought transfer of the case over the citing the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ wherein West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a dharna at the CBI office on Monday after the arrests.
CBI has also said the agency was not able to produce the four accused in court physically owing to unruly protests by a large number of people outside its office complex in Kolkata.
After a day of drama following the arrests by CBI, a special court had granted them bail. However, within hours the Calcutta High Court had cancelled the bail order, following which the four leaders were taken to the Presidency prison in Kolkata.
The three TMC leaders and Sovan Chatterjee, who quit both TMC and BJP in quick succession were kept in judicial custody since the arrest and cancellation of their bail orders.
Three of the four arrested leaders — Madan Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee and Sovan Chatterjee — complained of illness a day after the arrest and were admitted to a hospital in Kolkata.
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/calcutta-hc-orders-house-arrest-of-tmc-leaders-firhad-hakim-subrata-mukherjee-1805181-2021-05-21
