Posters, flowers, ‘gulaal’, and firecrackers welcomed Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal who reached his Birbhum residence on Tuesday morning after spending two years in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in connection with several cases.
In his first statement to the media, Mondal, who was arrested in August 2022, said he was unwell but pledged support for Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and expressed the highest regard for the judiciary. Though he met some party workers, Mondal skipped the meeting with prison minister Chandranath Sinha who had come to his residence.
Banerjee, who was in Birbhum, has not yet commented on Mondal’s release but the political fraternity is keeping a close watch on how Mondal recalibrates his bond with the TMC.
Party leaders such as Firhad Hakim expressed joy at Mondal’s return, saying: “Tiger is back, he was holed up in jail without any reason. We are happy that he is back.”
On the other hand, BJP’s Dilip Ghosh said the strongman had merely got bail and not been proven innocent. “TMC is full of criminals and corrupt people so they are happy with Mondal’s release.”
Mondal’s return is considered a major boost for the local TMC unit in Birbhum. His bail order copy, which has been accessed by CNN-News18, lists out several reasons that helped Mondal get reprieve.
To begin with, the order cited the delay in trial due to lack of translated documents. The order says a substantial period has lapsed since the disposal of the first bail application and the trial has not proceeded any further due to the absence of English translations of documents that are originally in the Bengali language. “No doubt the accused are Bengali and hence they cannot make this a ground to delay the trial. However, Bengali not being the language of this court, the court is unable to proceed with hearing of arguments on the point of charge in the absence of English translation,” the order stated.
Many of the statements recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, are also in Bengali. The court noted that since translations had not been provided, there was no progress in the case. “The delay in beginning the trial cannot be attributed to the applicant/other accused persons at all.”
The court also cited former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s case to draw a parallel that in Mondal’s case too, a direct link had not been established so far.
“The applicant has been in custody for almost two years. He has been admitted to bail for the predicate offence. So far allegations are concerned, there is material available on record which is sufficient to form a reasonable belief but it is of very weak form as it consists of statements of co-accused persons, call detail records without transcripts and bank details without showing any direct connection with the cash that was allegedly received from the syndicate of cattle smugglers.”
“Further, some of the cash deposits are of the years prior to the period of conspiracy also, which certainly will have to be explained by the prosecution during the trial. The record of this case is voluminous and trial is likely to take time. Applicant is not required for investigation any more in custody,” the order added.
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