Anubrata Mondal's bail plea: Calcutta HC seeks details of new case filed against him

Kolkata, Dec 23 (IANS) A division bench of the Calcutta High Court hearing the bail petition of Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal in connection with the multi-crore cattle smuggling scam, on Friday, sought the case diary of the new attempt to murder case filed against him at Dubrajpur Police Station in Birbhum district.

A case was registered against Mondal following an FIR filed against him on December 19 in an attempt to murder case that purportedly happened last year, and on December 20, a lower court in Birbhum remanded him to five days of police custody. Incidentally, the FIR was filed just after a couple of hours after the Rouse Avenue Court in New Delhi approved the production warrant allowing Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take Mondal to Delhi in connection with the cattle smuggling scam.

On Friday, a separate bail petition by Mondal in connection to the cattle smuggling scam was heard by the Calcutta High Court division bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Ajay Kumar Gupta sought the details of the new attempts to murder and ordered that the case diary in the matter should be submitted to the court immediately.

While the hearing in the matter was going on Justice Bagchi told Mondal's counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal that probably the latter can understand how heavyweight his client is. "You client is currently under the scanner of both the state and central agencies. Such persons are perceived as VVIPs. This is the rule followed by VVIPs where both the state and central agencies keep watch," Bagchi was heard telling Sibal. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on January 3 next year.

This is not the first time that Justice Bagchi made observations about the influential status of Anubrata Mondal. During the first hearing on the same bail petition on December 16 this year observed that Mondal is more influential than others involved in the cattle smuggling scam.

"One judge has complained about receiving threats in the matter. The Central Bureau of Investigation has informed the court that a prime witness in the matter has gone missing. The court cannot take such matters lightly," Justice Bagchi observed on December 16.