Was Madan Mitra's resignation accepted to counter CBI's "Influential person" contention?

Kolkata, Nov 19: The resignation of Madan Mitra an accused in the Saradha scam is a welcome move, but it also effectively puts and end to the contention by the CBI that he is an influential person.

The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accepted his resignation a few hours after the Calcutta High Court observed Mitra was so influential that his resignation had not been accepted.

The observations were made in the wake of the Chief Minister rejecting his resignation last year. The CBI has continued to contend before the court that Mitra's bail ought to be cancelled as he is an influential person and could tamper with the evidence if he stayed out.

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Mamta Banerjee had defended Mitra, the transport minister of West Bengal on several occasions. She had batted for him vehemently and even accused the CBI of running a smear campaign against her government and ministers.

However with the High Court observing that Mitra is not holier than you, just because he had offered to resign, the West Bengal Chief Minister took the same seriously and accepted his resignation.

No government or Chief Minister would like stinging observations from the higher judiciary. Immediately after these observations were made, Mitra's close confidantes including his legal advisors suggested that his resignation be accepted with immediate effect.

With the resignation being accepted the CBI will not have a strong pitch to make regarding his influential status while arguing for the cancellation of his bail.

Mitra's legal team also felt that if his resignation was accepted then the chances of his bail being cancelled too would be less. After the Alipore court granted him bail in October, the CBI moved the Calcutta High Court seeking its cancellation.

The main contention of the CBI was that they wanted his custody for questioning while also vehemently arguing that Mitra staying out on bail would mean the tampering of evidence and intimidation as he was a very influential person.

The counter the CBI argument, Mitra's counsel had contended that his client had resigned last year but the same had not been accepted.

In the wake of this contention, the High Court was also likely ask the Chief Minister why the resignation was not accepted. Mamta Banerjee appears to have pre-empted that question from the court and was quick this time in accepting Madan Mitra's resignation.

OneIndia News