Calcutta High Court grants temporary bail to Nandigram Congress candidate

The Calcutta High Court has granted interim bail to Milan Pradhan, the Congress candidate for the Nandigram Assembly bypoll in West Bengal. Pradhan was arrested on September 18 over an FIR filed 19 years ago in connection with the 2007 Nandigram agitation. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said he had been taken into custody only after filing his nomination papers and noted that the cases arose from the earlier agitation.

The court also observed that the incident forming the basis of the cases had been investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. It described Pradhan as a political activist who had participated in the 2007 agitation and remained a political worker. The interim bail covers the cases against Pradhan until October 20.

He will then have to surrender before a district court. The State opposed the request, arguing that the cases included allegations of murder and that warrants and other coercive measures had been issued. Pradhan’s lawyer argued that the arrest followed the announcement of his candidature and that the State had not produced material demonstrating his client’s role in the alleged offences.

The Nandigram bypoll is scheduled for October 6. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress candidate withdrew from the contest, and Banerjee announced support for Pradhan. During his absence, his wife and local Congress leaders campaigned in the constituency.

West Bengal Congress president Subhankar Sarkar welcomed the order. The seat became vacant after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who had won from both Bhabanipur and Nandigram, resigned as Nandigram’s legislator. The BJP has nominated Hasirani Rath, while the contest has become a major political contest for Adhikari, who represented the seat from 2021 to 2026.