CPI(M) leader Kalatan Dasgupta was granted bail by the Calcutta High Court on Thursday in a case of alleged conspiracy to attack the junior doctors protesting the rape and murder of their colleague at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Dasgupta was arrested along with one Sanjiv Das by the Bidhannagar City Police after a purported audio clip of a phone call was released by TMC leader Kunal Ghosh who alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to attack the medics outside Swashtya Bhawan in Salt Lake to defame the Mamata Banerjee government.
Police had lodged a suo motu case in connection with the audio clip and made the two arrests.
A bench of Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj said Dasgupta can neither be interrogated in connection with the investigation nor be arrested without the consent of the high court.
Dasgupta was given bail with a surety of Rs 500.
The court asked the state to file an affidavit citing the reasons behind the arrest, noting that the leader is also entitled to file an affidavit. The case will be heard again on November 18.
Dasgupta's counsel Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee told the court that no attack had taken place on junior doctors and the leader had not given any instruction for such an attack.
The public prosecutor said Dasgupta and Das had spoken over the phone 171 times in the last 10 months. To this, Bhattacharjee said how these phone calls between two persons can establish a conspiracy even if they were more than acquaintances.
The court also sought to know why Dasgupta was booked under non-bailable sections of the BNS, while Das was booked under bailable sections, particularly when "Das allegedly discussed any such purported plans".
The medics have been camping outside Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the state Health Department, with a host of demands, including better security at state-run hospitals following the rape and murder of their colleague.
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