Mampi Das aka Piyali, the BJP worker from Sandeshkhali arrested for allegedly coercing a woman to lodge a false rape complaint, was granted bail by Calcutta High Court on Friday.
Justice Jay Sengupta granted unconditional bail to Mampi and quashed a non-bailable charge against her, saying it was not tenable.
Directing state authorities to immediately release Mampi from the correctional home, Justice Sengupta wondered who was the mastermind behind the police action of adding the non-bailable Section 195(A) of the IPC against Mampi.
The superintendent of Basirhat police would oversee the probe against Mampi on a slew of other charges against her and the final report would be submitted only after the court's permission, he ordered.
These developments occurred three days after a subdivisional court in Basirhat remanded Mampi to judicial custody.
The order brought Sandeshkhali back to political discourse ahead of phase 5 of the polls.
"Mampi Das will continue to be with the oppressed Sandeshkhali women, so will the BJP. But how many times will the state police be pulled up for acting on behalf of the ruling party? The way the police have been toeing the Trinamool line... is deplorable," said BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.
Trinamool leaders denied any meddling. "The BJP has nothing else to talk about other than alleging bias against the police in Bengal for almost anything. The party will respect the high court order," said Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
Mampi came under the police scanner after an elderly woman lodged a complaint against her of alleged intimidation after she decided to withdraw her rape complaint, claiming it didn't occur. She accused Mampi of making her sign on a blank sheet of paper.
On May 7, an FIR against Mampi was drawn up at Sandeshkhali police station under several charges, including trespass, wrongful restraint voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and insulting the modesty of a woman. All these are bailable.
Two days later, the police sent a notice to Mampi under 41A of CrPC asking her to appear before the police station for questioning. Mampi surrendered in the Basirhat subdivisional court on May 14 and was remanded to judicial custody riding Section 195(A) of the IPC.
Her lawyer said the police notice did not mention this non-bailable section and alleged it was added on May 9. Mampi decided to move high court challenging the lower court's order of her judicial custody.
On Friday, Mampi's advocate Rajdeep Mazumdar told the high court that action taken against his client was politically motivated and sought the Sandeshkhali OC, SP and magistrate be summoned to court.
Justice Sengupta expressed surprise at the Basirhat subdivisional court's magistrate, who rejected Mampi's plea and directed the police to arrest her. The Supreme Court has specific guidelines on Section 195A of the IPC, he said, wondering how the magistrate passed an order to remand Mampi to judicial custody.