Sect 409 applied against Madan Mitra

Kolkata, Feb 9: A city court tonight incorporated section 409 of IPC (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) against West Bengal Transport Minister Madan Mitra in Saradha chit fund scam case on a plea by CBI amid high drama in the court room with a section of lawyers demanding a hearing before passing any order.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Haradhan Mukhopadhyay incorporated the section on the ground that the Section had been inadvertantly dropped earlier. CBI had moved the court seeking incorporation of Section 409 of IPC which allows a charge sheet to be filed against an accused within 90 days of arrest.

The IPC Sections slapped against Mitra, who was arrested on December 12 last, mandated the charge sheet to be filed within 60 days of arrest. He had been charged under sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC. Mitra had last Friday filed a bail plea in the Alipore District and Sessions Judge's Court and it is scheduled to come up for hearing on February 11.

The bail petition was filed apparently to take advantage of the prosecution's failure to file the charge sheet within the statutory period of 60 days within which the prosecution would have to file the charge sheet under the Sections he was charged earlier. CBI sought invoking of Section 409 apparently to prevent Mitra seek bail for the agency's failure the charge sheet within 60 days and get 30 more days time to the file the same.

here was high drama in the court room today with a section of lawyers demanding that the defence lawyers be heard before passing any order. They also told the court that as a senior lawyer died yesterday, they were not attending court as a mark of respect to the departed colleague and as such the judge should not pass any order in this matter.

Mukhopadhyay, however, remained firm and said that he would pass the order today itself. The verbal tussle continued between these lawyers and the judge for a few hours before the matter was resolved and the court finally passed the order. Mitra is now being held in Alipore Correctional Home. The district and sessions judge's court had granted bail to another accused in the Saradha scam, Srinjoy Bose, on the ground that even after completing 60 days in custody, no charge sheet was filed against him.

PTI