Even Kapil Sibal failed to secure bail for state transport and sports minister Madan Mitra in the Saradha chit fund scam case. Unmoved by the arguments put forward by one of the most high-profile lawyers of the country, the Calcutta high court on Thursday rejected Mr Mitra’s bail plea. Even Mr Mitra’s offer to resign as minister could not cut any ice in the division bench of Calcutta high court comprising Justice Nishitha Mathre and Justice Asha Arora.
Mr Sibal, in his hour long argument, pointed out that there was no evidence of Mr Mitra’s direct involvement in either Saradha Group’s chit fund business or in the “greater conspiracy. “No money had ever been transferred to his or his family members’ account from Saradha Group,” Mr Sibal said. Mr Sibal also said that bail was denied to a person if there was a fear that he may run away or influence the case.
He also claimed that some Sections slapped by CBI against Mr Mitra like 409 of IPC ( criminal breach of trust by public servant) were not applicable. Mr Sibal informed the court that Mr Mitra was willing to relinquish his ministerial office and ready to accept any condition of the court for the sake of bail. This was possibly Mr Mitra’s last weapon to counter the CBI’s persistent stand that he was an influential minister whose bail may jeopardise the investigation.
The CBI’s counsel K. Raghavacharulu put up spirited counter-arguments to oppose Mr Mitra’s bail prayer. The central focus of his arguments was to establish before the division bench how influential a person Mr Mitra was and why he should not be granted bail. He pointed out that Mr Mitra was arrested by the CBI in December 2014 and had been in judicial custody for eight months but he still remained a minister. He also said that he was so powerful that the jail authorities’ refused to hand over his health report to the CBI. When Justice Mathre wanted to know what ailment Mr Mitra was suffering from, the CBI lawyer said it remained a mystery. The jail authorities have also refused to inform the CBI about the number of days Mr Mitra had spent in jail and in SSKM Hospital.
Mr Raghavacharulu also informed the court that in the Saradha chit fund scam case, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI to probe the larger conspiracy and the role of influential persons in it.
The hearing continued for nearly two-and-half hours, The judges accepted the CBI lawyer’s argument that a bail could affect the investigation of the case. On Thursday, the court room was packed to the capacity when the hearing began. In fact, due to the overcrowding, there was a bedlam in the court and the two judges were unable to hear the arguments of the lawyers. The hearing was briefly suspended for this reason. Later, the hearing resumed after the door was closed.
Mr Mitra was shattered by the rejection of the bail. “His blood pressure shot up and he was breathless. Madan da did not eat anything the whole day. He had pinned all hopes on Mr Sibal but when his son broke the bad news over his cell phone, Madan da was went into a shell,” sources said.
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