Kolkata: A Division Bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee granted conditional bail to Debjani Mukherjee who was arrested in connection with the Sarada multi-crore scam seven years ago.
Mukherjee will have to give a bail bond worth Rs 2 lakh with two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each, one of whom must be local. She shall not leave the jurisdiction of the police station within the territorial limit of which her residence is situated except for the purpose of attending the court proceedings. She shall meet the investigating officer of the case once a week. The CBI can summon her for further investigation and interrogation anytime. She will have to deposit her passport to the court.
The petitioner was arrested on April 22, 2013. The Division Bench observed that the charge sheet was filed on October 22, 2014 and the investigation
against the petitioner was complete. The CBI could not explain as to why further custodial detention of the petitioner was necessary.
Trial has not started and nobody can say when the trial will start. It does not appear that the trial will conclude within a measurable distance of time. "It will indeed be a travesty of justice to keep the petitioner in jail any further if after the trial the petitioner is ultimately found to be innocent," the Court observed.
The Court further observed that the petitioner did cooperate with the process of investigation. There is no allegation that she is likely to tamper with evidence.