Calcutta HC Division Bench Sets Aside Relief for Nandigram Congress Candidate

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday set aside an interim order that had shielded Congress's Nandigram bypoll candidate, Milan Pradhan, from coercive action in a 2007 criminal case, restoring the effect of his judicial remand.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge and also comprising Justice Om Narayan Rai, held that criminal law contains no provision allowing such interim protection to an accused. An accused may seek bail after arrest, or apply for anticipatory bail if he apprehends arrest, the bench observed.

The order under challenge was passed on Thursday by Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, who had directed the police not to take any steps against Mr. Pradhan until October 12 in connection with Case No. 45 of 2007 registered at Khejuri police station in Purba Medinipur district. That single-judge bench had also directed that he not be treated as arrested in the case, and had remarked that it was surprising that a 2007 prosecution was still live and that the investigating officer had sought to have the petitioner treated as "shown arrest" on September 19.

Setting that relief aside, the division bench observed that the law applies equally to all and that a person contesting an election cannot be considered differently.

With the interim protection removed, Mr. Pradhan's judicial remand until October 7, ordered by the Contai ACJM Court, remains in force. He was arrested by Purba Medinipur district police on September 18 and subsequently shown arrested in the Khejuri police station case; the Contai court remanded him to judicial custody on September 23. He faces charges including murder and attempt to murder in the 2007 case, which is linked to the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram. Several criminal cases were registered against him in 2007 at Nandigram and Khejuri police stations.

While hearing a separate application by Mr. Pradhan seeking protection from coercive action in six other cases, the High Court was informed by the State on September 22 that five of those cases had been withdrawn by the previous government and that he was not wanted in the sixth. The court was also told that he had been arrested and sent to judicial remand in connection with the other five cases.

The Nandigram bypoll is scheduled for October 6, with campaigning set to end on October 4.