4 held in Narada case: Arrest, bail and stay on bail; all in a day

TMC workers protest at CBI office in Kolkata on Monday. Pic/PTI

The Calcutta High Court, in a late night hearing on Monday, stayed the special CBI court's order giving interim bail to the four current and former TMC leaders, arrested earlier in the day in connection with the Narada case, reported Bar & Bench. Those arrested are state ministers Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee and TMC leader Madan Mitra and former party leader Sovan Chatterjee. The CBI court had earlier on Monday granted them interim bail. They were all ministers during the time of the alleged commission of the offence in 2014, officials said. IPS officer SMH Meerza, who is out on bail, is the fifth accused in the case.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjee starts dharna at CBI's Kolkata office

Soon after the arrests, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the CBI's Nizam Palace office in Kolkata demanding their release. "This court has been called upon to deal with an extra-ordinary situation where Chief Minister of the State can sit on a dharna outside the office of the CBI," Bar & Bench quoted the HC as saying. The charge sheet against the five accused, for whom prosecution sanction has been received, is being submitted, he said. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had given his assent to CBI's request for sanction to prosecute the four leaders on May 7, two days after Banerjee was sworn in as the CM, officials said. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee called the governor "bloodsucker" trying to secure a BJP ticket before the 2024 polls.

Protests erupted outside the CBI office following the arrests. The agitators also burnt tyres and blocked roads in several other parts of the state. Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee urged the agitators to follow the law and refrain from violating the lockdown norms.

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