Assam to challenge bail for two accused in Zubeen Garg death case

The Assam government will approach the Supreme Court against bail granted to two accused. The move comes as the fast-track trial proceeds daily at a crucial stage.

In Short

• Fast-track court has examined 134 witnesses during day-to-day proceedings so far
• No witness has turned hostile, according to Assam CID officials
• Four of seven accused face murder charges in the filed charge sheet

The Assam government will approach the Supreme Court against the Gauhati High Court's decision to grant bail to two of the seven accused in singer Zubeen Garg's death case, officials told news agency Press Trust of India on Sunday.

The government plans to file Special Leave Petitions as soon as the Supreme Court reopens after the ongoing holidays. Garg's band member and singer Amritprava Mahanta and his cousin, suspended Assam Police Deputy Superintendent Sandipon Garg, secured bail through separate High Court orders.

Special Director General of Police, CID, Munna Prasad Gupta said, "The honourable Gauhati High Court has granted bail to two accused in case no. 18/25. We have studied the orders, and after analysing those and taking legal opinion, we have decided to move the honourable Supreme Court against the bail orders."

Gupta declined to comment on the bail orders. "Court holidays are on. And as soon as it reopens, we will file it," he added.

Mahanta, who was granted bail on October 9, has been released from judicial custody. Sandipon Garg was awaiting the execution of his bail order, which was granted on October 16.

Gupta told Press Trust of India that the fast-track court hearing the case had examined 134 witnesses. "The trial of the case is progressing well. No witness has turned hostile," he said.

Assam Advocate General Devajit Saikia said lower courts had rejected the bail petitions of the accused before the High Court granted them bail.

"I have studied Mahanta's bail order and have seen some discrepancies in it. The home department has consulted me, and I have advised them that this order is not acceptable and we should challenge it," Saikia said.

Preliminary work has begun to file a Special Leave Petition against Mahanta's bail order when the Supreme Court reopens after the break, he said. The government will also seek the removal of some observations in the bail order, which it believes could create problems during the trial, and ask for the order to be quashed.

"The trial is at an important stage and hearing is on a day-to-day basis. Granting bail at this stage could put us in a difficult position," Saikia said.

He said the detailed order granting bail to Sandipon Garg was not yet available. The state government would file a Special Leave Petition if it found any discrepancy in the order.

Saikia said the government was committed to ensuring "justice" for Garg and noted that the accused had been in jail for more than a year. "Even in the most hardcore murder case, bail is given after 90 days. But our investigation findings and legal teams' work have ensured that the accused remained incarcerated till now," he said.

"The fast-track court has upheld all the charges brought in the charge-sheet during the charge framing stage," Saikia added. He said the investigation had been carried out efficiently and the prosecution was taking the case forward in the trial court.

Saikia also said others, including Garg's family, were free to seek legal remedies against the bail orders or raise other objections.

Morigaon-based lawyer Ratul Bora, who filed the first police complaint after Garg's death in Singapore, said on Saturday that he would approach the Supreme Court against the High Court's bail orders.

Garg, a celebrated singer-songwriter, died under mysterious circumstances while swimming in the sea in Singapore on September 19 last year. He was in the country to attend the fourth edition of the North East India Festival.

Besides Mahanta and Sandipon Garg, the other accused are festival chief organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, the singer's manager Siddharth Sharma, band member Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and personal security officers Nandeswar Bora and Prabin Baishya. They remain in jail in connection with the case.

The two personal security officers were granted bail in a disproportionate assets case in September but remain in jail over the singer's death.

A special investigation team of the Assam CID investigated Garg's death after more than 60 first information reports were registered across the state. It filed a charge sheet before a local court in December last year, naming seven accused. Four of them face murder charges.

Singapore Police conducted a separate investigation and concluded that there was no evidence of foul play. A Singapore court also said Garg was severely intoxicated and drowned off Lazarus Island after declining to wear a life jacket.

Assam authorities have maintained that the Singapore Police findings will not affect the case in the state. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had told the state Assembly that Garg's death was a case of "plain and simple murder".

The Assam government will now challenge Mahanta's bail in the Supreme Court and will consider a similar petition against Sandipon Garg's bail after examining the detailed order, even as the fast-track court continues the trial on a day-to-day basis.

- Ends