Calcutta HC orders house arrest of TMC leaders in Narada case

The Calcutta High Court on Friday denied interim bail for all four Bengal politicians - including two ministers - in jail after being arrested by the CBI earlier this week in connection with the Narada case. All four will now be placed under house arrest, the court ruled.The order was passed shortly after a difference of opinion split the two-member bench - acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal ordered house arrest but Justice Arijit Banerjee ordered interim bail. The initial order stipulated house arrest while the bail plea was heard by a larger  bench. The final order makes the same provision but gives no timeframe for the new hearing. CBI likely to challenge the Calcutta HC order in the Supreme Court.

Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee - also named by the CBI in the case - asked for the higher bench to be set up by 2 pm, but said there was no order that this will be done. The court also rejected a CBI request to stay its house arrest order - which will mean the four can now leave jail. The agency had argued the four were influential leaders and could threaten witnesses. The court also said the two ministers - Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee - will be allowed to access files and hold meetings (via video conference) while under house arrest. Physical meetings have, however, been banned.Lawyers for the CBI and the four politicians both opposed the house arrest orders.The four politicians - Hakim,  Mukherjee, MLA Madan Mitra and former Trinamool member Sovan Chatterjee - were arrested Monday morning from their residences in the city.