Cattle scam: Delhi HC defers Anubrata Mondal's plea against trial court order

New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday posted for June 1 Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Anubrata Mondal's plea challenging a trial court's order denying him default bail in connection with the multi-crore cattle smuggling case in West Bengal being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Mondal had moved the High Court challenging Special Judge of the Rouse Avenue Court Raghubir Singh's order dated January 24 denying him bail finding no reason to give him the relief.

Seeking an early hearing in the matter, senior counsel for Mondal filed an application before the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on Wednesday.

He contended: "My Lord! The pleadings are complete, and we have received the response from the Directorate of Enforcement. It is a Section 167 application. Even the Supreme Court says that within 15 days it should be disposed of. Four months' date is given in the case My Lord!"

Representing the ED, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju submitted: "Any date convenient to My Lords! may be given."

Taking note of the submissions, Justice Sharma posted the matter for hearing on June 1.

The ED's Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana had earlier said that Mondal's bail application was without any merit.

The ED had arrested Mondal based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in Kolkata against Satish Kumar, the then Commandant of Border Security Force.

On December 21, 2022, Mondal had moved the HC challenging issuance of production warrant by the Rouse Avenue courts in ED's case.

On December 19, Rouse Avenue court permitted the ED to bring him to Delhi.

While Mondal was named in the fourth charge-sheet filed by the CBI on October 7 at the Asansol court, Mondal's former bodyguard Sehgal Hossain was arrested on June 10.

According to CBI's third charge-sheet filed on August 8, he was one of the kingpins. Hossain is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail.

CBI suspects that profits from cattle smuggling were used to buy 24 of the 168 land and property deeds executed in or after 2014.

CBI officials claim to have detected Mondal's suspected link to these property deeds. The remaining 144 registration papers bear the names of his relatives, aides and their kin.

Mondal's daughter Sukanya, who is suspected to be among the beneficiaries, was summoned by the ED in November 2022, to its Delhi office.

She is the director of two companies, Neer Developer Pvt Ltd and ANM Agrochem Foods Pvt Ltd, CBI's probe revealed.

The companies have their offices at the same address where Bholebam Rice Mill, which is also owned by her, is located in Birbhum's Bolpur town.