The Calcutta High Court on Friday referred the Narada case to a larger bench and directed that the four arrested leaders be put under house arrest instead of judicial custody.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed that the matter be heard before a larger bench since one of them thought it was fit to grant interim bail to the four while the other did not.
The order said the court found that guidance given by the Supreme Court on May 12, 2021 in case titled Gautam Navlakha vs. National Investigation Agency was fully applicable in these cases.
“As far as interim relief is concerned, while modifying the earlier order dated May 17, 2021, we direct that considering the age and health issues of the accused, three of whom are said to be admitted in hospital, instead of custody in jail, all the accused persons can be put under house arrest in their own homes,” it read.
During house arrest, while being in home comfort, they shall be entitled to all medical facilities and be bound by all applicable restrictions. “Any violation thereof can result in recall of this order,” it stated.
West Bengal Ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, MLA Madan Mitra and former Minister Sovan Chatterjee, were arrested by the CBI in connection with Narada sting videos, on Monday. They have been in judicial custody since then.
Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented the four, while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued for the CBI. Mr. Singhvi sought relaxation for Minister Firhad Hakim who, as the chairman of the Board of Administrators of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, was actively involved in the fight against COVID-19. The court directed that the arrested persons could access files and meet officials through videoconference.
“As far as the prayer of the accused for allowing them to discharge their official functions to manage Covid-19 in the State, we direct that the officials will not have any direct access to the accused, however, they are permitted to deal with the files sent to them online and hold meetings through videoconferencing,” the court order read.
During the proceedings, senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee said hearing by a larger bench should be convened as early as possible.
The court stated that the setting up of a larger bench was an administrative matter and it would be constituted in due course of time.
