Kolkata, Sept. 25 -- The Calcutta High Court on Friday set aside an order that had temporarily protected Congress' Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan from coercive action in a 2007 criminal case, holding that criminal law does not provide for such interim protection to an accused.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge, with Justice Om Narayan Rai, said an accused facing arrest has legal remedies available under the criminal procedure, including seeking bail after arrest or anticipatory bail when arrest is apprehended.
The bench also rejected the suggestion that Pradhan's status as an election candidate could warrant a different approach. The law, it observed, applies equally to all.
The ruling restores the effect of the Contai ACJM court's order remanding Pradhan to judicial custody till October 7. The Nandigram bypoll is scheduled for October 6, with campaigning ending on October 4. On Thursday, a single bench had restrained police from taking any further steps against Pradhan till October 12 and directed that he not be treated as arrested in the Khejuri police station case. The court had questioned why police sought his "shown arrest" nearly 19 years after the case was registered.
Pradhan, arrested on September 18, faces charges including murder and attempt to murder in cases arising from the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.