Narada twist: Calcutta HC stays bail of 4 arrested WB netas; grants CBI judicial custody

In a massive and late development in the controversial Narada scam case, the Calcutta High Court has put a stay on the interim bail granted by a special CBI Court to all four accused leaders who were arrested on Monday morning. All the four accused Madan Mitra (TMC MLA), Firhad Hakim (TMC Minister), Subrata Mukherjee (TMC Minister), and former TMC MLA Sovan Chatterjee had been granted interim bail against a personal bond of Rs 50,000. However, that bail has now been stayed by the High Court, and they will instead be in judicial custody of the CBI till May 19. They were arrested by the CBI on Monday morning in connection with the Narada sting case, leading to an almighty row with the TMC. 

The Narada case relates a series of sting operations conducted by Narada news in West Bengal. The tapes showed 12 TMC ministers, leaders, and an IPS officer allegedly and seemingly accepting bribes from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours. The arrest of four leaders resulted in a huge controversy with TMC supporters and even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holding a protest against the CBI. 

In fact, TMC workers raised slogans against the BJP-led NDA government, and hurled stones and bricks at security personnel outside Nizam Palace, which houses the Central Bureau of Investigation office, protesting the arrests. The protestors also burnt tyres and blocked roads in several other parts of the state, including Hooghly, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts.

Earlier the CBI special court granted interim bail noting that the investigation against the accused has been completed and there is no formal request on behalf of the I.O for CBI custody. The court also took the Supreme Court of India's judgment in which the court had opined that over-crowding of the accused in the prison might have an effect of the infection of the COVID-19 which should not be encouraged. 

Mamata Banerjee joins protest against CBI's arrest

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself joined the demonstrations and dared the CBI to arrest her, in protest against the arrest of her two cabinet ministers. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had recently granted sanction to prosecute all the four leaders, following which the probe agency finalised its chargesheet and moved to arrest them.

"I do not know for what unknown reason they went to the governor and sought his sanction. The chair of the speaker was not vacant at that time, I was very much in office. "This sanction is absolutely illegal and arresting anyone on the basis of this sanction is also illegal," Banerjee claimed. Speaking to Republic, the Speaker echoed the Chief Minister, stating he was astonished that the CBI and the Governor had bypassed him in order to arrest the 4 politicians.

What Is Narada Scam Case?

The Narada sting tapes, made public before the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2016, had recorded TMC ministers, MPs, and MLAs allegedly receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of promised favours. The sting operation was conducted by Mathew Samuel of the Narada News portal. The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the sting operation in March 2017.

(Image Credits: ANI/PTI)