Narada sting: Calcutta HC to hear bail plea of 4 arrested leaders
The CBI had arrested the four leaders -- two Cabinet ministers, a legislator and a former mayor, on May 17 in connection with the case
A five-judge bench headed by acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal of Calcutta high court is scheduled to hear today the bail plea of the four politicians arrested in the 2016 Narada sting operation case.
“The matter has been listed for 11am on Thursday morning. The hearing could not be held on Wednesday as the court had suspended all judicial proceedings because of Cyclone Yaas,” said an advocate who also happens to be a TMC leader.
The arrested politicians are sitting ministers of Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, Trinamool Congress legislator Madan Mitra, and former MLA Sovan Chatterjee.
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The case pertains to a controversy that erupted ahead of the 2016 assembly elections after Narada News portal uploaded a series of videos purportedly showing a number of high-profile TMC leaders receiving money in exchange for favours to a fictitious company.
Though a special CBI court granted them interim bail, the high court stayed it and sent them to judicial custody. Later, the first division bench of the Calcutta high court put the leaders under house arrest on May 21 and a five-judge bench was constituted to hear the bail plea.
Meanwhile, this Monday, the CBI moved the Supreme Court against the high court order of putting the leaders under house arrest instead of lodging them in jail in judicial custody. On Tuesday, however, the agency withdrew its petition before the apex court.