The High Court of Calcutta granted interim bail to Milan Pradhan, the Indian National Congress candidate for the high-stakes Nandigram assembly by-election, who had been arrested by West Bengal police following violent clashes during candidate nomination rallies. A division bench ordered the candidate’s conditional release on furnishing a personal surety of twenty-five thousand rupees with two solvent local sureties.
Defense counsel argued before the court that the criminal charges, which included unlawful assembly and obstruction of public servants, were politically fabricated by ruling party functionaries to prevent the opposition candidate from actively campaigning across the sensitive constituency. The high court directed the petitioner to cooperate fully with investigating officers while restraining law enforcement from initiating further coercive steps without judicial permission.
Congress workers and political supporters gathered outside the correctional facility to celebrate the judicial relief, describing the ruling as a vindication of democratic electoral rights. Regional political commentators observed that the candidate’s return to the campaign trail is set to intensify an already polarized by-election contest in the iconic coastal constituency.
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Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/today-india-breaking-news-live-updates-29-september-2026-ujjain-shahi-masjid-du-protests-mayawati-evm-10898418/