Narada Bribery Case: CBI Moves Supreme Court Against Calcutta HC House Arrest Order Of Four Leaders

The CBI on May 24 morning went to the Supreme Court to challenge the Calcutta High Court order in the Narada bribery case. Calcutta HC allowed the house arrest of four political leaders from Bengal, three from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool. The fourth is a former party leader. The central agency wanted May 24 High Court hearing - a five-member bench scheduled to hear the politicians’ bail plea, to be cancelled. The High Court, meanwhile, held its hearing as scheduled and adjourned it to May 26. Those arrested are ministers Firhad Hakim & Subrata Mukherjee, MLA Madan Mitra & Sovan Chatterjee, who quit the Trinamool to join the BJP before leaving that party too in March. Hakim is a key minister in the fight against Covid-19 in Kolkata. On May 21, the High Court denied interim bail for all four. The court also rejected a CBI request to stay its order - which allowed the four to leave jail. The agency had argued they were influential leaders and could threaten witnesses. In dramatic developments last week, central security forces went with CBI officials to the homes of the four leaders, took them to the agency's main Kolkata office and arrested them. The arrests sparked massive protests and a furious Mamata Banerjee - who has been made party to the case raced to the CBI's Kolkata office - daring investigators to arrest her too.