Kolkata: Two days ago, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regional office and dared the probe agency to arrest her after two of her ministers, an MLA and a former Mayor were picked up in connection with the Narada bribery scam.
On Wednesday, the CBI made Mamata a party to the transfer of case petition and also included Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee and state Law minister Malay Ghatak in the 123-page petition, with the CBI highlighting misconduct on the CM’s part.
“I heard the CM telling officials there is no rule that without the Speaker’s and state government’s permission one can arrest state officials. ‘You have to arrest me if you arrest my officials,’ Mamata had said,” advocate Anindo Raut claimed on Monday.
State ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, MLA Madan Mitra and former Kolkata Mayor and TMC leader Sovan Chatterjee were arrested by the CBI from their respective residences on Monday for their alleged involvement in the 2016 Narada sting operation case.
All four were granted interim bail on Monday evening after a virtual hearing, but the High Court stayed the bail order late on Monday night.
High Court hearing to continue tomorrow
The CBI appealed that the lower court’s bail verdict to the arrested quartet be nullified, along with a request to transfer the entire case. The arrested quartet, on the other hand, sought a recall of HC’s bail stay ruling.
The case came up for hearing on Wednesday afternoon, when the High Court was supposed to hear the transfer of case plea and reconsideration of bail stay order of the four.
After over two hours of the virtual session in the bench of the Chief Justice, the hearing was adjourned for the day, with the plea for review of bail to the quartet not even coming up.
All four arrested leaders will thus be in custody for one more day at least, with the next hearing on Thursday.
