Milan Pradhan gets bail, cleared for Nandigram campaign (Img: Dynamite News)
Kolkata: Congress' Nandigram candidate Milan Pradhan got a big relief from the Calcutta High Court. He has been granted bail by the court in six criminal cases and can campaign in the bypolls scheduled to be held on October 6.
Calcutta High Court Justice Tirthankar Ghosh granted Pradhan relief until October 20 and directed him to surrender before the trial court on October 21. He was also ordered to furnish a bail bond of Rs 20,000 in each of the six cases.
While passing the order, Justice Ghosh said the magistrate of the concerned trial court would decide the appropriate course of action after considering the cases against Pradhan.
The court also directed the Congress candidate to provide his mobile phone number to the investigating officer. The officer will be permitted to call him twice a day.
The cases involve allegations including murder, attempt to murder and violations of provisions of the Arms Act. They were registered in 2007 during the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement.
Pradhan has been in judicial custody since his arrest on September 18. Four of the cases were registered at Nandigram police station, while two were registered in neighbouring Khejuri.
Pradhan's lawyer, senior advocate Milan Mukherjee, told the court that Pradhan was arrested after filing his nomination on September 15 and sought interim bail so he could campaign and participate in the election. The trial court at Kanthi had earlier remanded him to judicial custody in one of the cases until October 7, effectively preventing him from campaigning for the bypoll.
The government lawyer had opposed the bail plea saying that 18 people were accused in the cases and six of them were already out on bail.
The latest order follows a series of court proceedings over Pradhan’s arrest. On September 25, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court set aside an earlier single-bench order that had granted him protection from coercive action in one of the 2007 cases. The division bench said criminal law did not provide for such interim protection and directed him to seek bail through the regular legal process.
Pradhan’s arrest had come shortly after he filed his nomination for the Nandigram bypoll. The election is scheduled for October 6, campaigning will end on October 4 and counting of votes will take place on October 9.
The High Court had also earlier directed authorities to allow Pradhan to contest the election while his legal proceedings continued.
The Nandigram seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari chose to retain Bhabanipur, another constituency he won in the state elections earlier this year.
