SC grants bail to TMC leader Anubrata Mondal in cattle smuggling case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 30 July granted bail to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested by the CBI in a cattle smuggling case.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma granted the relief to Mondal after noting that the trial in the matter would take time and he has been in jail for two years.

The TMC leader will, however, remain in jail as he was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the same case in November 2022.

The top court directed Mondal to cooperate in the investigation and surrender his passport.

At the outset, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mondal, submitted that the TMC leader was arrested on 11 August, 2022, and has been in jail for two years. All other accused in the case are out on bail and this is a mockery of justice, he said.

Rohatgi alleged that he had not been provided the English version of the charge sheet, which was originally in Bengali.

Expressing surprise, the bench said, "You are Bengali. You translate."

Rohatgi said the charge sheet has more than one lakh pages with more than 10,000 in Bengali.

The senior lawyer said there are 309 witnesses in the case and the trial is not likely to end soon.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), opposed Mondal's bail plea, saying he was a very influential person and was involved in tampering with evidence.

The Calcutta High Court had rejected Mondal's bail plea in January last year. He had prayed for bail, submitting at that time that he had been in custody for a long time.

Holding that further investigation into the alleged amassing of illegal wealth by Mondal was continuing, the high court had said that releasing him on bail would adversely affect the morale and confidence of the witnesses and seriously impact the collection of evidence.

The high court had observed that he continued to hold a powerful political post and had an overwhelming influence not only in society but also on the state administration.

Opposing Mondal's bail plea, the CBI alleged that as a powerful political personality, the TMC leader had illegally aided and abetted cattle smuggler Enamul Haque and used his influence to ensure a smooth passage of cattle through Birbhum and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal to Bangladesh in exchange for wrongful gains.