The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the anticipatory bail petition of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s election agent S.K. Supian, accused of killing a supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party at Chillogram in Nandigram after the declaration of Assembly election results.
The Trinamool Congress leader allegedly killed BJP supporter Debabrata Maity, during the post-poll violence that erupted in West Bengal.
A Bench comprising Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Abhay S. Oka noted that it has imposed several conditions and permitted the appeal.
Earlier on February 4, an Apex Court Bench comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice B.R. Gavai had reserved its order on a petition challenging the Calcutta High Court order, rejecting Supian’s anticipatory bail as the documents filed by Supian’s counsel were not on record.
Upon the defeat of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram Assembly seat, violence erupted in the constituency and neighbouring areas.
The CBI was probing the death of BJP worker Debabrata Maity, who was allegedly attacked in Nandigram after a day of declaring the Assembly election results and succumbed to his injuries at SSKM Hospital.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the arrest was politically motivated and Suvendu Adhikari had declared before hand that the petitioner would be arrested, which he was. He further argued that the mobile location of the petitioner was 5 km from the location of the alleged incident.
ASG Aman Lekhi submitted that the co-accused were already in custody and by the reason of facts the petitioner was not entitled for different treatment. He further argued that just because he was not included in the initial charge sheets does not mean he is not guilty.
He also clarified that the video was only to grasp the gravity of situation and not as evidence against the petitioner and cautioned the court against granting anticipatory bail as it was a Section 302 IPC investigation
Senior Advocate Paramjit Singh Patwalia appearing on behalf of the slain BJP worker’s wife submitted that Supian be denied bail as he was a powerful person and can have an effect on the investigation if he gets bail.