The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing till Wednesday on West Bengal government ’s plea challenging the interim bail granted to Congress’ Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan.
As the election is on Tuesday (October 6), the state pressed for an urgent hearing but the court posted it after a day allowing him to contest the election slated for October 6. The state represented by solicitor general Tushar Mehta requested for an urgent hearing stating that the bail granted by the Calcutta high court on September 29 did not consider the fact that Pradhan faces six criminal cases dating back to the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition agitation that included four murder cases.
The order was passed after one of the judges on the bench hearing the matter recused citing a “personal conflict of interest”. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said, “Let him contest and conclude the elections peacefully,” posting the matter for October 7. Mehta said that six non-bailable warrants were issued to him in these cases which is a serious fact to be considered while granting bail.
“I have actively appeared for public interest groups and some of the accused. On an occasion when he wants to contest the elections, then suddenly you come to know. First of all, action should be taken against those police officers who failed to execute the NBWs. He accused the state of unnecessarily pursuing the appeal when the order is interim in nature. The matter was mentioned last week by Mehta pursuant to which the matter got listed. 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. He was directed to provide his mobile number to the investigating officer who was allowed to call him twice a day to ascertain his whereabouts.
The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said that it is unable to hear the matter as one of the judges (justice Bagchi) cited his appearance as a lawyer in the 2007 case in which Pradhan is an accused. So I have a personal conflict of interest as these cases relate to the agitation that took place between 2007 and 2010. CJI said, “These are 2007 FIRs. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Pradhan told the court that the interim bail granted by the high court will expire on October 21. On September 29, a single-judge bench of justice Tirthankar Ghosh granted Pradhan interim bail for three weeks in six criminal cases to enable him campaign for the October 6 Nandigram bypoll. He was directed to surrender before the Haldia trial court on October 21. Pradhan was arrested on September 18, hours after the Trinamool Congress candidate withdrew and party chief Mamata Banerjee announced support for him. The high court order of bail carried strict conditions, including a bail bond of ₹ 20,00 in each of the six cases.
Mehta told the court that the matter came to the state’s knowledge only when Pradhan disclosed the criminal cases in his nomination form. The CJI further told Mehta that he recollects hearing the land acquisition matter in Nandigram where the accused are in thousands.
