Cattle smuggling: TMC's Anubrata Mondal moves Delhi HC challenging trial court production warrant

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal, who is lodged in an Asansol jail in a cattle smuggling case in West Bengal, Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court order for producing him here in a money laundering case related to the case.

The petition came up before Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani who transferred it to the bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh as Mondal's counsel submitted that other connected matters are pending before Justice Singh.

Citing urgency, the counsel urged the court to list it for Wednesday itself. The prayer was allowed. 

The production warrant was issued by a trial court here on December 19 on a plea by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Mondal, the TMC's Birbhum district president and a close aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was arrested by the CBI in the case on August 11.

According to the ED, it registered the money laundering case following an FIR by the CBI in Kolkata against Satish Kumar, the then Commandant of the BSF.

The CBI FIR alleged that Mondal, along with Kumar, other public servants and private persons, was involved in the multi-crore cattle smuggling racket.