Calcutta High Court refuses to grant bail to TMC's Anubrata Mondal in cattle smuggling case

The Calcutta High Court Wednesday refused to grant bail to All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader Anubrata Mondal, booked for allegedly smuggling cattle to Bangladesh by bribing the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel [Anubrata Mondal @ Kesto vs The Central Bureau of Investigation]..A division bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Ajay Kumar Gupta noted that Mondal is an 'influential' person and has been involved in intimidating the witnesses."Paramount influence of the petitioner as a political heavy weight and materials collected showing misuse of such power to influence witnesses and derail the investigation places him in a unique position in comparison to others who are on bail. Enlarging him on bail would have an ominous impact not only on the witnesses but on the smooth administration of criminal justice," the bench observed in its order..As per the prosecution case, the prime accused Md Enamul Haque and his associates had conspired along with BSF personnel and custom officials o illegally smuggle cattle to Bangladesh. To enable the movement of the cattle through the districts of Birbhum and Murshidabad, Haque had obtained illegal favours from the Mondal, a 'powerful political satrap.'The CBI alleged that Mondal used his influence to facilitate the crime and received wrongful gains for his patronage. He was, however, arrested in the case on August 11 last year..In its brief order, the judges stated that grant of bail to an undertrial requires a fine balance between the "right to liberty" and "presumption of innocence" of an accused on one hand and public interest on the other hand. "Detention of an undertrial is not to punish him even before he is pronounced guilty. The purpose of detention pending trial is to ensure smooth and proper administration of criminal justice," the Court said..The present case, the judges said, relates to illegal cattle smuggling across international border which has far reaching impact on the economic and national security of the country. "He as a powerful political personality illegally aided and abetted the cattle smuggler Md. Haque in the venture. He used his influence to ensure smooth passage of cattle through the districts of Birbhum and Murshidabad to reach the international border in lieu of wrongful gains and amassed enormous illegitimate wealth," the bench noted."Without his patronage the organized crime could not have been perpetuated. His role in the crime is pivotal and cannot be discounted as a minor one," the bench added..Besides this case, the Court was 'disturbed' to note that a production warrant had been obtained against Mondal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case registered against him in New Delhi. Immediately thereafter, on December 9, a criminal case was lodged against him in connection with an assault case alleged to have occurred one and half years ago. "Though no medical papers in support of such assault were placed, the State Police Administration in post haste obtained his police custody in the said case," the bench noted.It further took into account the fact that the legality of the production warrant was pending consideration before the Delhi High Court. "To avoid pre-judging the issue we choose not to make any comment with regard to its legality save and except observing the arrest and police custody of the petitioner in the belated FIR registered against him appears to be an overzealous and unjustified exercise for reasons not far to seek," the bench underscored.With these observations, the bench dismissed the bail application..Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Sandipan Ganguly along with advocates Ankur Chawla, Somopriyo Chowdhury, Karan Dudhwewala, Avik Ghatak and Dipayan Dan appeared for Mondal.Senior DP Singh along with advocates Arun Kumar Maiti, Anirban Mitra, Amajit De and Somnath Adhikary represented the CBI.Public Prosecutor Saswata Gopal Mukherjee and Additional Public Prosecutor Rudradipta Nandy appeared for the State..[Read Order]