A day after the Calcutta High Court granted interim bail to Congress’s Nandigram assembly bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan, the West Bengal government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay on the order, arguing that a murder accused with six non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against him should not have been given such relief.
Meanwhile, Pradhan walked out of the jail in the afternoon and said he would immediately start campaigning for the October 6 by-election. The bypoll was necessitated by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari leaving the Nandigram seat for Bhabanipur, which he had also won in the state polls earlier this year.
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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the West Bengal government, mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, pressing for an expedited hearing of the state’s appeal against the high court’s September 29 order.
“He is a murder accused and has been released only for elections. The high court failed to consider that there were six NBWs against this person,” Mehta told the CJI. The top court agreed to list the matter for hearing on October 5.
{{/usCountry}}“He is a murder accused and has been released only for elections. The high court failed to consider that there were six NBWs against this person,” Mehta told the CJI. The top court agreed to list the matter for hearing on October 5.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, a single-judge bench of justice Tirthankar Ghosh granted Pradhan interim bail for three weeks in six cases dating back to the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition agitation that included four murder cases, enabling him to campaign for the bypoll. The court directed him to surrender before the Haldia trial court on October 21.
Pradhan was arrested on September 18, hours after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate withdrew and party chief Mamata Banerjee announced support for him. He was in judicial remand in connection with four cases registered at Nandigram police station and two more in neighbouring Khejuri, on charges including murder, attempt to murder and violations of the Arms Act.
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Pradhan, after walking out of Haldia jail said: “I will begin campaigning from today. There is not much time left.”