The Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 30, granted bail to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested by the CBI in a cattle smuggling case. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and SC Sharma granted the relief to Mondal after noting that the trial in the matter would take time and he has been in jail for two years.
The top court directed Mondal to cooperate in the investigation and surrender his passport. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing on behalf of Mondal, submitted that four charge sheets have been filed in the case and everybody except the TMC leader is out of jail.
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Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), opposed the bail plea, saying Mondol is a very influential person and was involved in tampering with evidence. The CBI had claimed that Mondal was the main facilitator for the smooth transportation of cattle through West Bengal's Birbhum district to Bangladesh. Mondal's counsel had stated that no such evidence was found.