The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered four TMC politicians to be kept under house arrest in connection with the Narada sting case.
The politicians under house arrest are two Bengal cabinet ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee and two former ministers Madan Mitra and Sovan Chatterjee. They have been in judicial custody since Monday.
It is to be noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested them in connection with the 2016 Narada bribery sting operation.
The arrests created huge controversy and protests all over the city as the Trinamool Congress supporters breaking the lockdown norms blocked the road in front of Nizam Palace and several other places in the city.
They demanded immediate release of the leaders. A large number of central forces cordoned off Nizam Palace and nobody was allowed to enter the area.
After the arrests by CBI, a special court had granted them bail. However, in a dramatic turn of events, the Calcutta High Court cancelled the bail order. Immediately after the order was passed, the four leaders were taken to the Presidency prison in Kolkata.
“There was a difference of opinion between the acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice Arijit Banerjee over the bail plea of the four accused. So, the division bench ordered that a large bench be constituted to hear the matter. Till then, the four accused would be kept under house arrest,” said Manishankhar Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee’s advocate.
Meanwhile, three of the four leaders-Madan Mitra, Subrata Mukherjee, and Sovan Chatterjee-complained of illness the day after the arrest and were admitted to a Kolkata hospital.
The CBI had earlier arrested IPS officer SMH Meerza in connection with the case. He is presently out on bail. The CBI said that it has received the prosecution sanction against the four arrested leaders on May 7.