The Calcutta High Court has granted bail to Arabul Islam, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and former MLA, who was accused in the murder case of an Indian Secular Front (ISF) leader.

Arabul Islam was arrested by the police in February on suspicion of murder and vandalism of government property. A division bench of Justices Arijit Banerjee and Prasenjit Biswas granted him bail, imposing several conditions.

The complaint against Arabul Islam was filed following a confrontation between him and his supporters and members of a rival political party during the filing of nominations for the 2023 Panchayat Elections.

It was stated that Arabul Islam also physically assaulted police officers on duty and hurled bombs at them with the intention of preventing government servants from discharging their duties and inflicting fatal injuries. As a result, some police personnel on duty were injured during the incident.

The Court observed that, on the date of the incident, a victim named Mahiuddin Molla sustained a gunshot wound to the head and subsequently died from the effects of this injury. It was determined that the victim's death resulted from a firearm injury to the head, which was determined to be ante mortem and homicidal in nature.

The senior counsel representing the petitioner, Arabul Islam, argued that he was innocent and had no involvement in the crime in question. It was contended that Islam had been implicated in the case as a result of political vendetta.

It was stated that the witnesses, in their statements, did not attribute a specific role to the applicant. It was submitted that to date, the applicant had not been convicted in any of the cases pending against him, and in most instances, he was granted bail by the trial court. It was submitted that there was no possibility of the applicant absconding or tampering with witnesses, and it was assured that if granted bail, he would not misuse it.

The Advocate General for the State argued that the applicant had a history of criminal activities and several cases were pending against him. It was submitted that the innocence of the applicant could not be adjudged at this pre-trial stage, and therefore, he did not deserve any indulgence.

It was further submitted by the Advocate General that there was sufficient incriminating evidence on record indicating the prima facie involvement of the accused petitioner in the alleged offence.

Upon hearing the arguments of the parties and reviewing the precedents relied upon by them, the Court noted that the State did not argue that the petitioner might misuse his liberty if granted bail.

It was held that if the accused was otherwise found to be entitled to bail he cannot be denied bail only on the grounds of his criminal history, when no exceptional circumstances on the basis of criminal antecedents had been shown on behalf of the State to deny bail. It was stated that mere criminal antecedents or pending cases against the petitioner could not be used as grounds to deny him bail.

Accordingly, the Court granted bail.

Case: Arabul Islam vs The State of West Bengal

Case No: C.R.M. (DB) No. 1580 Of 2024