The West Bengal government has approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Calcutta High Court order granting interim bail to Congress’s Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan. The state government argued that Pradhan, who is facing multiple criminal cases including murder charges and has six non-bailable warrants against him, should not have been granted the relief. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta raised the matter before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Wednesday, seeking an expedited hearing of the state’s appeal.

The Supreme Court agreed to list the matter for hearing on October 5, a day after campaigning for the Nandigram bypoll is scheduled to end. Voting in the constituency is set for October 6, while counting is scheduled for October 9. The timing of the hearing means the court is expected to consider the state government’s challenge shortly before polling takes place. Mehta told the Chief Justice that Pradhan was an accused in a murder case and that six non-bailable warrants had been issued against him, while challenging the High Court’s decision to release him on interim bail.

On September 29, a single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of the Calcutta High Court granted Pradhan interim bail for three weeks in six criminal cases dating back to the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition agitation. Four of those cases involve murder charges. Under the order, Pradhan was directed to surrender before the Haldia trial court on October 21. He was arrested on September 18, shortly after the Trinamool Congress candidate withdrew from the contest and party chief Mamata Banerjee announced support for Pradhan.

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Pradhan was in judicial custody in connection with four cases registered at Nandigram police station and two cases in neighbouring Khejuri. The allegations include murder, attempt to murder and offences under the Arms Act. The High Court imposed conditions on his interim bail, including a ₹20,000 bail bond in each of the six cases. He was also required to provide his mobile number to the investigating officer, who was authorised to contact him twice a day to verify his whereabouts.

Pradhan’s lawyer, Milan Mukherjee, had argued that the candidate was arrested after filing his nomination on September 15 and needed interim bail to campaign and participate in the election. A trial court at Kanthi had remanded him to judicial custody in one of the cases until October 7, which would have prevented him from campaigning during much of the election period. Before the September 29 order, a Calcutta High Court division bench had on September 25 set aside an earlier single-bench direction that had protected Pradhan from coercive action in a 2007 case.

During an earlier hearing, the West Bengal government told the High Court that 18 people were accused in the cases and that six had already secured bail. The state also submitted that five of the cases against Pradhan had been withdrawn by the previous government and that he was not wanted in the sixth case. The Supreme Court will now consider the state government’s challenge to the interim bail order on October 5, with the legal proceedings taking place just before the Nandigram constituency votes on October 6.

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