NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file its response to a bail plea filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested in connection with a West Bengal's cattle smuggling case.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to the CBI and sought its response in two weeks.
In January this year, the Calcutta High Court had rejected Mondal’s bail plea.
Appearing for Mondal, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, contended that the petitioner has been in jail for 14 months and that five chargesheets have been filed in the case so far.
The counsel said that the prime accused in the case was granted bail following an order from a bench led by the Chief Justice of India.
Mondal approached the court challenging the Calcutta High Court's refusal to grant him bail.
The TMC leader was arrested in August last year in connection with a case filed against him for allegedly smuggling cattle to Bangladesh by bribing Border Security Force (BSF) personnel.
The high court had noted that he was an influential person and that he had been accused of intimidating witnesses.
Rejecting his bail, the high court had in January, this year also noted that illegal cattle smuggling has a far-reaching impact on the economic and national security of the country.
Mondal is the Birbhum district president of the ruling TMC in West Bengal.
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