Madan Mitra put under house arrest

In a major setback to state transport minister Madan Mitra, a division bench of the Calcutta HC on Thursday ordered his house arrest only days after he was released on bail by the Alipore court in Saradha chit fund scam. Senior legal experts said that this was a rare order. Hearing the petition of the CBI, which sought cancellation of the bail granted by the Alipore court on October 31, the vacation bench comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Dara Sheko directed that he should be kept under house arrest under round the clock police surveillance till November 17, when a regular division bench would hear the matter. The bench said it was an interim arrangement and the final ruling will be given by the regular bench, which had in August rejected the bail prayer.

The vacation bench voiced its displeasure over the “haste” with which the Alipore court had granted bail to Mr Mitra.

On that day, the CBI had sought postponement of the hearing on the plea that the investigation officer of the case and the case diary were not present. The Alipore court however, had ignored the CBI plea and granted bail to Mr Mitra on Saturday. “The division bench said that the granting of bail was improper and hasty particularly when the CD (case diary) was not available,” the CBI lawyer said.

Interpreting the division bench order, prominent lawyer Bikash Bhattacharya said that the bail granted last week had given the Saradha scam accused freedom to move. “Today’s order has restricted his movements,” he said. Another legal expert went so far as to opine that the division bench’s order was tantamount to a rejection of the bail till the matter came for a hearing in the regular division bench.

Mr Mitra’s lawyer Niladri Bhattacharya said that the division bench did not cancel the bail. “It merely modified the conditions of the bail granted by the lower court,” he claimed. Mr Mitra’s lawyer was asked to file an affidavit before November 17 when a regular division bench which had rejected the bail on August 6 would hear the matter again.

The high court made it clear that Mr Mitra cannot leave his residence except for a medical emergency or for purposes of investigation and interrogation. When hearing began, the CBI lawyer cited its old argument that Mr Mitra was an important and influential person who could influence witnesses and the course of the investigation into Saradha scam which involved thousands of crores of rupees deposited by common people.

On August while rejecting his bail prayer, the division bench had observed that Mr Mitra was a powerful minister who can influence the investigation. On Thursday, the division bench observed that since there was no change in the situation, how could the lower could grant bail Although the division bench gave the interim order at around 2.30 pm, no police security was posted in Mr Mitra’s room in the private hospital till 6 pm.

Meanwhile, in the chitfund scam in the state, CBI arrested 4 directors of ASSDA group namely Nabarun Dutta, Jasim Hossain, Jasmir Hossain and Asger Ali.