After 11 months of judicial custody the West Bengal transport minister Madan Mitra was granted bail by a city court on Saturday. He was arrested by CBI on 13 December in Saradha scam.
The 62-year-old leader was charged for several offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal breach of trust. He was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh.
Mr Mitra’s bail plea had been rejected many times including by the Calcutta High Court.
“Mitra has been granted bail in Saradha Reality case. For us, it has been a fight for last eleven months. And finally, we won.” He further added, “The court has ordered to submit a bail bond worth Rs 2 lakh. It is a conditional bail. He has to deposit his passport and cooperate with CBI when the agency needs him.” said Ashok Mukherjee, Mitra’s lawyer.
Mitra, is still a minister in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet. She has not accepted Mitra’s resignation and was looking after his department for last 11 months. Mitra’s aide said “Dada broke down after we informed him. he is not in a position to take future decisions now but he loves his work and we expect that he would join soon.”
Mr Mitra was undergoing treatment in SSKm hospital for last 10 months as he was suffering from ‘hypertension’ and hence, needs to be under ‘observation’.
As soon as Mitra’s bail got confirmed his supporters and family members rushed to the state-run SSKM Hospital where Mitra was addmitted.