HC gives BJP MP protection from arrest till Feb 28 in TMC MLA murder case

The Calcutta High Court directed the CID on Friday to not arrest BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar till February 28 in connection with the murder case of Trinamool Congress MLA Satyajit Biswas in Nadia district last year.

A division bench comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and Suvra Ghosh directed Sarkar to meet the investigating officer in the case on February 8, 9, 15 and 16 during the period of reprieve granted to him.

The court directed the investigating officer to submit a report on progress in the investigation on February 28, when the matter will be heard next. Biswas, a TMC MLA from Krishnaganj in Nadia district, was shot dead near his house during Saraswati Puja on February 9, 2019. Sarkar was elected MP from Ranaghat Lok Sabha constituency in Nadia district in 2019 on a BJP ticket. Praying for anticipatory bail, Sarkar's lawyers claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the case owing to his political identity.

The prosecution, opposing his prayer for anticipatory bail in connection with the case, submitted that Sarkar's name cropped up in the statements of the accused persons who have been arrested for their alleged role in the murder. Hearing both the parties, the court granted the interim relief to Sarkar and directed that the hearing for the anticipatory bail prayer will continue on February 28.

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