HC of Tripura orders probe into lower court’s bail to six murder accused

The Tripura High Court has asked the Registrar Judicial to conduct an inquiry about the grant of bail to six murder accused by the Additional District and Sessions Court in south Tripura district’s Belonia, despite rejection of their bail application by the high court, a senior lawyer on Thursday said.

Justice Biswajit Palit of the High Court also served notices to the six murder accused, directing them to explain why their bail should not be cancelled.

The six accused were reportedly involved in the murder of Badal Shil, a leader of the opposition CPI (M). Shil was a CPI (M) candidate of the South Tripura Zilla Parishad elections in 2024, and he was reportedly brutally attacked by a group of people in the Chottakhola area in South Tripura district on July 12 last year.

He succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) and GBP Hospital on the next day. Based on an FIR lodged by the victim’s daughter, police arrested seven persons for their alleged involvement in the murder of the CPI (M) leader.

Police submitted the charge-sheet against the seven accused before the additional district and sessions court in Belonia. Defence lawyer Purushottam Roy Barman said that after the charge-sheet was filed by the police, all seven accused moved bail applications to the sessions court, but considering the gravity and circumstances of the case and evidence against the accused persons, the court rejected the bail pleas.

Of the seven accused persons, six of them then approached the high court seeking bail and challenging the sessions court’s rejection of their bail application.

According to Roy Barman, High Court Justice Palit dismissed the bail pleas of the six accused in March this year, stating that bail cannot be granted at that stage as evidence against them appeared solid and they might influence the 22 witnesses.

After the bails were rejected by the High Court, the six accused again moved a petition before the session court seeking bail as the trial had already started.

The session court then granted bail to the six accused persons on July 25, Roy Barman told the media. The senior lawyer said that after the session court granted bail to the six accused, he again raised the matter before the High Court.

"We have pointed out that the additional district and sessions court granted bail to six accused, violating the high court's earlier ruling. Granting bail by the lower court to the accused facing serious murder charges is against the discipline in the judicial system," the senior lawyer said.

Roy Barman said that Justice Palit, after hearing his arguments, asked the Registrar Judicial to probe the matter and also issued notices to the six accused persons directing them to reply why their bail should not be void.

The CPI (M) and the Congress organised a series of agitations against the violence and murder of the 51-year-old Left leader before the elections to the three-tier Gram Panchayats in Tripura on August 8, 2024.