Calcutta High Court Rejects Anticipatory Bail Plea Of Ex-TMC Minister Indranil Sen In Durga Puja Pandal Tickets Scam
The Calcutta High Court rejected the anticipatory bail prayer in connection with a criminal case registered against Sen at Bowbazar police station in Kolkata.
The Calcutta High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of former West Bengal Minister Indranil Sen in a cheating case linked to the alleged sale of high-priced preview show tickets for Durga Puja pandals in the city.
The High Court rejected the anticipatory bail prayer in connection with a criminal case registered against Sen at Bowbazar police station in Kolkata.
The Single Bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh held, “The State’s claim that Petitioner has abused his official position while discharging his duties, at this stage, cannot be ruled out. Additionally, criminal investigation is never a complaint-specific investigation, and if, in course of investigation, the investigating agency has been able to unearth an offence, it is the duty of the investigating agency to carry out the investigation. There are trappings of corruption, as government money was diverted through tender process which has enriched the Petitioner and his family members. Petitioner was at the helm of affairs and was primarily responsible being a government servant i.e. the Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs Department.”
Senior Advocate Jishnu Saha represented the Petitioner while Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Mazumdar represented the Respondent.
Factual Background
Sen was arrayed in the case based on a complaint by one Joydip Mukherjee at Bowbazar police station, accusing the former minister of cheating common people between 2022 and 2024 in the name of religion through an organisation that allegedly misrepresented its association with UNESCO to sell preview show tickets.
Sen, a singer who held the cultural affairs and tourism portfolios in the previous TMC government, was accused of commercialising the festival through the sale of the tickets.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also questioned Sen in connection with financial transactions related to "MassArt".
The Central Agency conducted raids at several locations linked to Sen on September 30 in connection with its inquiry into alleged monetary transactions by selling tickets for preview shows for visiting popular Durga Puja pandals in the city.
Arguments
Seeking anticipatory bail, Sen's Counsel argued that no specific role or overt act had been attributed to him and the allegations were vague and insufficient to establish criminal liability.
The lawyer also claimed that Sen was implicated following a change of government in the state.
Opposing the plea, Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Majumdar, appearing for the State, submitted that Sen had abused his official position and diverted government funds through MassArt, allegedly used as a shell organisation to route or park the money.
Reasoning
After hearing both sides, Justice Ghosh observed that the state had been able to demonstrate a link between Sen and two entities allegedly involved in routing money to MassArt.
The Court noted that office-bearers of the MassArt Society included Sen's wife, as well as directors and individuals responsible for the day-to-day operations of entities that had received tenders from the Information and Cultural Affairs Department during his tenure.
The Judge observed that the State's allegation that Sen had abused his official position while discharging his duties could not be ruled out at this stage.
"There are trappings of corruption, as government money was diverted through a tender process, which has enriched the petitioner and his family members," the Court observed.
"Petitioner was at the helm of affairs and was primarily responsible being a government servant i.e. the Minister of Information and Cultural Affairs Department," the Court noted.
Decision
Holding that there were trappings of corruption, as Government money was diverted through the tender process, which enriched the Petitioner and his family members, the Bench rejected the application for anticipatory bail.
Cause Title: In the matter of Indranil Sen (Case No.: CRM (A) 1704 of 2026)
Appearance
Petitioner: Senior Advocate Jishnu Saha, Advocates Ayan Poddar, Soham Dutta, Shounak Mondal, Gargi Mukhopadhyay
Respondent: Additional Advocate General Rajdeep Mazumdar, Public Prosecutor Kallol Mondal, Advocates Aditya Tiwari, Moyukh Mukherjee, Sayan Mukherjee, Koustav Lal Mukherjee
With PTI Inputs