Narada Bribery Case: In connection with the Narada scam, the Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the house arrest of two West Bengal ministers, Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and former chief Sovan Chatterjee. The bail given to them by a special CBI court had previously been stayed by the High Court pending further orders. On Monday, the CBI arrested all four suspects in the Narada sting tape investigation.
The judges on the division bench, presided over by Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal, were split on whether to lift a hold on bail issued to ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, TMC MLA Madan Mitra, and former Kolkata mayor Sovan Chatterjee by a special CBI court. The tribunal, which also included Justice Arijit Banerjee, eventually decided that the representatives, who had been put under judicial remand, would be held under house arrest for the time being.
Due to a disagreement between Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee, it was also agreed to refer the case to a separate tribunal. The court’s decision is in line with the Supreme Court’s latest decision in the Gautam Navlakha case.
In 2014, Mathew Samuel of Narada News, a website, performed a sting operation in which some people resembling TMC officials, MPs, and MLAs were seen accepting money from members of a fictional corporation in exchange for favours.
