Susanta Ghosh vs State Of West Bengal

3. The Appellant is an elected Member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. His prayer for bail is based mainly on the ground that on account of 3 political vendetta he has been named as an accused in a First Information Report which was lodged on 5th June, 2011, in respect of an incident which occurred on 22nd September, 2002, and in respect whereof three separate FIRs had been lodged, two on the date of incident itself and one on 26th September, 2002, in which he had not been named.

4. The second FIR was lodged by one Shri Debashish Roy, the Station House Officer of Keshpur Police Station, on the same day and in respect of the same incident, which was recorded as FIR No.60 dated 22nd September, 2002, under similar provisions.

6. As will be apparent from the three FIRs, the first two related to the incident in which seven persons, including the father of the third complainant, Ajoy Acharya, were killed at Piyasala Village and their bodies were removed to and buried at Daser Bandh, Keshpur. As indicated hereinabove, in none of the above FIRs was the Appellant named, nor was he included in the charge-sheets which were filed.

7. The cases which arose out of the first two FIRs in which charge-sheets were filed under Sections 148, 149, 302 IPC and also under Sections 448, 364 and 506 IPC, ended in acquittal of the accused 5 persons who were alleged to have committed the offences complained of. The third case is, however, still pending trial before the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Paschim Medinipur.

8. From amongst a number of skeletons which were recovered from a grave in Daser Bandh, Keshpur, one of the skeletons was identified by one Shyamal Acharya, the younger son of the deceased, on the strength of the clothes which were recovered, together with a set of teeth, which were identified to be that of the deceased, Ajoy Acharya. It is thereafter that the fourth FIR was lodged by Shri Shyamal Acharya, being Anandapur P.S. Case No.36 of 6th June, 2011, in which 40 persons were named as accused and the name of the Appellant was shown at serial No.2 and it was alleged that he had entered into a criminal conspiracy with the other accused persons in order to cause the deaths of the seven victims, who were allegedly members of the 6 Trinamool Congress. It was further alleged that a peace meeting had been held prior to the incident and the victims were returning to their homes upon the assurance that had been given in the meeting that peace would be maintained by the local villagers. The further allegation was that under the directions of the Appellant, the seven victims were targeted and dragged out of their homes and were killed upon his instructions. Thereafter, the bodies were carried to different places and ultimately buried at Daser Bandh in Keshpur, from where the skeletons were recovered.

15. Having considered the submissions made on behalf of the respective parties, we are inclined to allow the Appellant's prayer for bail.

16. There is no mention of the Appellant's name or alleged role in the incident. There was nothing to prevent at least Smt. Chandana Acharya, the daughter of the deceased, from naming him. Whether the investigating authorities took notice of the same is an entirely different matter. At this stage it will not be proper for us to dilate any further on the factual aspect of the matter, but at least for the purpose of considering the Appellant's prayer for bail it does merit consideration that the Appellant has been arrested in connection with a FIR lodged 9 years after the incident. During all these years there is no 12 allegation that the Appellant has interfered with the investigation. Furthermore, in connection with this case he was also granted anticipatory bail.

18. We, therefore, allow the appeal and direct that the Appellant be released on bail to the satisfaction of the trial Court. The trial Court may impose such conditions as may be necessary to secure the Appellant's presence during the trial.

In addition to the above, except for Garhbeta, which is his Assembly Constituency, the Appellant shall not enter other areas of Paschim Medinipur District, West Bengal, without the permission of the trial Court and shall report to the local police station where he will be residing, once on the last Sunday of each month, between 11.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. The Appellant shall make himself available before the trial Court at all stages of the trial, unless for any special 14 reason he is exempted from doing so by the trial Court on any particular occasion.

19. The appeal is disposed of accordingly.