Madan Mitra's bail plea rejected

KOLKATA: A court today rejected the bail application of Trinamool Congress leader and former West Bengal minister Madan Mitra, an accused in the Saradha chit fund scam.

District Judge of the Alipore Civil and Criminal Court Siddhartha Kanjilal rejected the bail plea of the Trinamool leader stating in his order that the nature of offence was serious and the larger interest of the society was involved.

The CBI counsel objected to the bail plea describing Mitra as still an "influential" person who, if released on bail, could affect the proceedings of its probe into the case.

In his order, the judge also stated that because the investigations into the case was still in progress and there has been no change in circumstances, the bail plea of Mitra was rejected.

Mitra, former state transport minister who was arrested on December 12, 2014, had surrendered before the court after his bail was cancelled by the Calcutta High Court on November 20 last.