Supreme Court grants bail to TMC’s Anubrata Mondal in CBI’s cattle smuggling case
Mondal will remain in Tihar Jail in connection with a parallel investigation that the Enforcement Directorate is conducting into the same allegations.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal in the cattle smuggling case with the condition that he has to surrender his passport and cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), party leaders aware of the court proceedings said.
Although he has been granted bail, Mondal will remain in Tihar Jail in connection with a parallel investigation that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting into the same allegations.
The CBI arrested Mondal on August 11, 2022 when he was president of the TMC’s Birbhum district unit. His daughter, Sukanya, is also in custody in the same case.
TMC chairperson and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who counts Mondal among her old loyalists, has been personally supervising the performance of the Birbhum district unit since Mondal’s arrest. The district president’s post remains vacant.
Representing Mondal in court on Tuesday, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued that he has been in custody as a suspect for almost two years while the other accused were granted bail.
CBI’s counsels opposed Mondal’s bail plea saying he can influence witnesses using his political clout. The federal agency alleged that Mondal facilitated smuggling of cattle into Bangladesh through Birbhum and Murshidabad districts.
Shatabdi Roy, TMC Lok Sabha member from Birbhum, welcomed the court’s decision.
“The CBI argued that he is an influential person. Did he ever try to use his influence in these two years? People will feel good when he comes home,” Roy told reporters.