The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the house arrest of four political leaders of Bengal, including two ministers and a Trinamul Congress MLA who were held in the Narada sting tapes case earlier in the week, while leaving it to a larger bench to rule on their plea for interim bail.

A five-judge bench was consituted in the evening to hear the bail matter of arrested four former ministers in Narada case after Calcutta HC’s acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee’s bench were divided over granting the interim bail.

While Justice Arijeet Banerjee supported interim bail, the acting chief justice Rajesh Bindal opposed it. The bench made it clear the house arrest was given considering the Covid pandemic.

While pronouncing the order, the bench turned down CBI’s plea for a stay of the order and added the arrestees can access files and meet officials, only through video conferencing.

The acting chief justice informed the prosecution and the defence counsels, since he and his colleagues differed on the bail plea, the four arrested Trinamul leaders must be kept in house arrest.

Ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim (also the mayor of Calcutta), legislator Madan Mitra and former mayor Sovan Chatterjee were arrested by CBI on Monday in connection with the Narada sting operation. The issue has since snowballed into a major political controversy given the acrimonious state of politics in Bengal.

Defence counsels Kalyan Bandyopadhyay and Abhishek Manu Singhvi while appealing for interim bail, had stressed on the need to keep the leaders outside the jail for their work in Covid management, especially Hakim and Mukherjee.

“Firhad Hakim is working 24x7 for Covid vaccination-related matters. His presence is necessary for Covid work in Calcutta. So necessary to give him access to files and permit him to meet officials,” Bandyopadhyay told the bench.

Singhvi too made the same plea reminding that two were ministers and one MLA.

In his plea for bail for the quartet, Singhvi raised three points. “Difference of opinion should lead to liberty. The bench must be constituted today itself. We are pressing for interim bail.”

Singhvi added: “If the choice is between full arrest and house arrest, it will be house arrest. But if the choice is between freedom and house arrest, it will be freedom.”

Singhvi said the arrestees being ministers and MLAs there was no possibility of a flight risk and the CBI too has not made the slightest allegation of them not cooperating with the agency.

Defence counsel Sidharth Luthra questioned why the four were being kept in judicial custody. “Investigation is over. There is no requirement of custody. Under what provision the custody will be given? Section 167?”, Luthra asked.

Luthra said the CBI case was a “house of cards” and will fall down in no time. At this the solicitor general Tushar Mehta interjected. “If it is a “house of cards” it should fall in a judicial order. Not with ministers protesting. That is pure hooliganism.”

Bandyopadhyay also demanded that the larger bench be formed on Friday itself and hearing commence in the matter.

“This court accepted CBI’s request to hear the matter at 5.30 pm on May 17. Am I not entitled to make a similar request? I request it (a sitting) today at 2 pm,” Bandyopadhyay said. As the solicitor general interrupted the two were involved in a minor verbal spat.

“Justice must be rooted in public confidence. An example needs to be set (by constituting a larger bench today). The whole country is watching the case. Signals must go everywhere,” Bandyopadhyay said.

The acting chief justice Bindal informed the lawyers the constitution of the bench was an administrative matter and will be done in due course.