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Calcutta HC grants bail to Adhikari’s aide, shields him from arrest in job scam case
In the job scam case, Bera, a businessman based in East Midnapore, was held for allegedly taking ₹2 lakh from a man in 2018-19 by promising a job in the irrigation department that Adhikari headed at that time.
The Calcutta high court on Monday granted bail to an aide of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari in an alleged job scam for which he had been arrested twice. The court also shielded him from arrest in any case in any part of West Bengal.
On June 7, the Kolkata Police arrested Rakhal Bera, an old associate of Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the Bengal legislative assembly, in a job scam case in East Midnapore district, the home turf of the Adhikari family.
Four cases were registered against Bera at the district’s Contai police station in June, while a fifth one was filed at the Manicktala police station in Kolkata on July 1, the court said.
Bera filed a writ petition seeking bail and a stay on the investigation.
“As already averred in WPA 10778 of 2021 it is reiterated that the petitioner is being punished by the ruling dispensation for changing political affiliation and for being close to the present leader of the Opposition by causing to foist false cases against him,” the order said, referring to a case number and arguments put forth by the petitioner.
“There appears to be a pattern being followed by police in coordination with one another in attempting to keep the petitioner in custody by hook or crook on one pretext or the other and by registering one FIR after the other,” Justice Rajasekhar Mantha said in his written order on Monday. HT has seen a copy of the order.
In the job scam case, Bera, a businessman based in East Midnapore, was held for allegedly taking ₹2 lakh from a man in 2018-19 by promising a job in the irrigation department that Adhikari headed at that time. Adhikari joined the BJP in December last year. After Bera’s arrest, his lawyers told the media that he became a victim of “political vendetta” because of his proximity to Adhikari.
In the order passed on Monday, Justice Mantha said, “Considering the repeated attempts by persons to lodge one complaint after the other against the petitioner and in a planned and systematic manner and the repeated arrest after bail in one case or the other, this court is persuaded to grant interim relief to the petitioner.”
“Normally a prayer for liberty from custody pending criminal proceedings is required to be made under Section 439 of the Cr. P. C. However, looking at the successive cases against him and the repeated arrests of the petitioner, provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution of India are clearly attracted and a Writ Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India cannot be a silent spectator. A Writ Court is required to intervene even at a suggestion of any plan or attempt to take away the liberty of a person, with ulterior motive or for doubtful reason. Such cases call for judicial scrutiny,” said the order.
Stating that the petitioner will co-operate with the police in all the investigations, the order said, “The state is once again directed to submit a list of all cases pending against the petitioner anywhere in the state. This Court is also inclined to direct that all police stations in the state may register any FIR against the petitioner but he shall not be arrested without the express leave of this Court.”
The judge asked the government to file its affidavit within four weeks.
Adhikari was not available for comment. However, BJP state vice-president Ritesh Tiwari welcomed the court order. “Rakhal Bera was arrested only because he was close to @SuvenduWB. That was his only fault. He became a victim of vindictive politics by @AITCofficial. Calcutta High Court’s verdict today gave a big blow to @MamataOfficial’s dirty politics,” tweeted Tiwari.
TMC leaders did not want to comment on the order saying the matter was subjudice.
Another bench of the high court on Monday offered relief to Adhikari by dismissing a proposed meeting of the board of directors of the Contai Co-operative Bank Ltd on Tuesday. The TMC is trying to remove Adhikari from the post of chairman of the board alleging financial and administrative irregularities.
