Kolkata, Sept. 21 -- The Calcutta High Court will on Tuesday hear a plea by Congress' Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan, seeking protection from coercive action in criminal cases pending against him.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya permitted Pradhan's lawyer to move the application, with his counsel informing the court that the candidate was already in judicial custody in five other cases and was not seeking relief in those matters at present.
According to the submissions, Pradhan was arrested on September 18 in one case and subsequently shown arrested in four more cases.
His lawyer told the court that details of five additional cases had been disclosed by Pradhan in his affidavit filed before the Election Commission and that protection was being sought in connection with those cases.
The plea assumes significance with the Nandigram bypoll scheduled for October 6 and campaigning set to end on October 4.
Pradhan was remanded in judicial custody until October 3 by the Haldia court on Saturday, a day after his arrest in cases dating back to the 2007 anti-land acquisition agitation in Nandigram.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.