The Supreme Court on Thursday sought the Bengal government’s response to the anticipatory bail plea of Union minister of state for home Nisith Pramanik in an attempt-to-murder case in Cooch Behar in 2018.

A bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal posted the matter for further hearing to Friday, by which time the state was expected to submit its response. The court asked Pramanik’s lawyers to serve a copy of the petition on the state in advance for Friday's hearing.

The junior Union Minister has filed the appeal against a January 4 order passed by the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of Calcutta High Court which declined to give him interim protection but had listed the matter for hearing on January 22.

Senior advocate P.S. Patwalia, who appeared for the Cooch Behar BJP MP, submitted in response to a query from the Supreme Court on Thursday that his client apprehended arrest because of political reasons as he had earlier been with the Trinamul Congress and later joined the BJP.

Patwalia claimed there was no shred of evidence against Pramanik. He said a magistrate had taken cognisance of the chargesheet filed against Pramanik in October, although there was no material to link him to the crime.

The bench wanted to hear the matter next week, but upon persistent pleas by Patwalia, the judges agreed to hear the matter again on Friday.