The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to S.K. Supiyan, who was election agent to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly elections held last year, in a murder case investigated by the CBI.
"Considering the peculiar facts of the case, we are of the view that the appellant deserves to be granted pre-arrest bail. However, the appellant will have to fully cooperate with the CBI for investigation and will have to remain present for investigation as and when called upon by the investigating officer," a Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Abhay S. Oka directed in its judgment.
Appearing for Mr. Supiyan, senior advocate Kapil Sibal had argued that the CBI was trying to implicate his client for "political reasons". Mr. Sibal had argued that most of the witnesses in the case were workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"For obvious political reasons, the appellant is sought to be falsely implicated," said Justice Oka, who authored the verdict, quoting the senior lawyer's submissions.
The court referred to how Mr. Sibal had mentioned media reports about statements made by "one Suvendu Adhikari, who is a leader of BJP who contested election against the Chief Minister. In the said statements made by him in October 2021, he stated that the appellant would be named by the investigating agency and will be arrested".
Mr. Sibal, the judgment said, had pointed out that the CBI wanted to rely on offences registered against Mr. Supiyan in 2007 in relation to agitations at Nandigram.
The case related to a First Information Report registered at the Nandigram police station concerning the death of Debabrata Maity, who had sustained injuries on May 3, 2021 in an alleged incident of mob attack.
The court noted that Mr. Supiyan was not named in the FIR. The CBI had taken over the case in August. Though Mr. Supiyan was called for investigation by the CBI, he was not named an accused in the chargesheet filed in October. Mr. Supiyan was later asked by the CBI to remain present for the probe, but again his name did not find a place among the accused in a supplementary chargesheet filed by the central agency in January 2022.
Meanwhile, he had applied and failed to get anticipatory bail in the Calcutta High Court in November. Following this, Mr. Supiyan had moved the apex court for pre-arrest bail.
The CBI had argued that anticipatory bail at this point would thwart the investigation and topple the case.
