NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the West Bengal police not to take any coercive action against Union Minister of State for Home Nisith Pramanik, in a 2018 attempt to murder case.
A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal said no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner till the matter is heard by the high court.
The bench noted that petitioner’s counsel senior advocate P S Patwalia contended that the next date before the circuit bench at Jalpaiguri is on January 22.
The court, while granting protection from arrest to the petitioner, asked the high court to dispose of his plea as expeditiously as possible.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan for the state government assured that no arrest would be made till then and asked the court not to record it in the order.
The bench also clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case and the high court would decide the case on its own merits.
On Thursday, Pramanik’s counsel contended before the court that his client is a member of Parliament and the high court declined to grant him protection from arrest.
The counsel submitted that earlier he was with the Trinamool Congress and now he is with the BJP, and stressed that he may be arrested in the case.
He said the political situation in the State of West Bengal was volatile, and the petitioner really apprehended some embarrassment.
The counsel asked the court to grant him protection.
The bench asked when his plea is still pending before the high court and why he can’t move over there.
To this, the counsel said the high court will examine the matter on January 22, and in the meanwhile, there is an apprehension that police may arrest Pramanik.
After hearing submissions, the court fixed the matter for hearing on Friday.
Pramanik has filed his plea, challenging the January 4 order of the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court by which it had refused to grant him anticipatory bail in the case.
An attempt-to-murder case was registered against Pramanik with Dinhata police station of Cooch Behar district of West Bengal in 2018, when a group of people had opened fire on Trinamool Congress workers.
A person was allegedly shot at and injured in the firing.
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