Supreme Court Refuses To Interfere With Interim Bail granted to Congress Nandigram bypoll candidate Milan Pradhan in six 2007 cases: West Bengal’s appeal is closed, and the State remains free to oppose any extension.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
New Delhi: West Bengal’s appeal against the interim bail given to Congress candidate Milan Pradhan in six criminal cases, so that he could contest the Nandigram Assembly bypoll, was closed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, which declined to interfere with the Calcutta High Court order [State of West Bengal v. Milan Pradhan].
The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana recorded that it was expressing no opinion on the merits, and that the State may contest any future application by Pradhan to extend his bail or convert it into regular bail.
An arrest after the nomination
Pradhan was arrested last month in six cases relating to the 2007 Nandigram land acquisition protests, which include allegations of rioting and murder, shortly after he filed his nomination. Before the Calcutta High Court he questioned the timing, pointing out that he was detained hours after Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee expressed support for his candidature. The State opposed his bail pleas, citing the seriousness of the alleged offences. All the allegations are untested, and Pradhan is presumed innocent.
The High Court granted him interim bail on September 29, after noting that all the cases were from 2007 and that the State had ample time to execute the arrest warrants issued in the 19-year-old cases. The State then went to the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of the interim bail.
The State’s answer to the timing question
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for West Bengal, denied that the arrest was politically motivated. He told the Court the State acted now because of what Pradhan disclosed in his nomination form, not because of the election or his candidature. After 2007, he added, no further action had been taken by the earlier State government led by the Trinamool Congress, and the present government, led by the BJP, then took cognizance.
The Bench pointed out that the bulk of the cases were from 2007. Chief Justice Surya Kant asked what Pradhan’s criminal track record was after 2007 and remarked that the Nandigram violence had given rise to a lot of the litigation.
Why Nandigram is voting
The bypoll was necessitated after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party vacated the seat. He had won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the Assembly elections and chose to retain Bhabanipur.
The Court’s reasons for letting the order stand
The Court noted that polling in the bypoll had taken place the previous day and that counting is on October 9. The cases involve serious offences, it observed, but the object of the High Court’s order was to let Pradhan contest the election, take part in the counting and surrender on October 21.
“We are informed the polling is over for the same and voting took place yesterday and counting is on October 9. The cases indicate certain serious offences but the exact idea of the order is to contest elections and take part in counting and surrender on October 21. In such circumstances, we don’t deem to intervene in the impugned judgment. If (an) application is made for extension of bail or made into regular bail, then all contentions of State shall remain open. No opinion expressed on merits.”
What the order does not decide
Whether the arrest was timed for political reasons was not decided, and the allegations in the six cases were not tested. The Court treated the purpose of the interim bail, participation in the election and counting, as a reason not to disturb it, while recording that the cases involve serious allegations.
All of the State’s contentions stay open for any extension or regular bail application, so the larger questions on bail in these 2007 cases are left for later.
Case Title: State of West Bengal v. Milan Pradhan (appeal against Calcutta High Court interim bail order; case number not available)
Bench: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana, Supreme Court of India
Date of Hearing: October 7, 2026
Appearances: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the State of West Bengal