Kolkata:
A Kolkata court has granted bail to Mamata Banerjee's nephew Akash and three other persons, who were arrested for slapping a traffic policeman, after signing a bond of Rs 1000.
The court has asked them to appear again on March 16.
"We are very happy. We got the order we were hoping for," said Bikash Bhattacharya, the lawyer for the person who filed a Public Interest Litigation in the court.
Yesterday, the court had remanded Mr Banerjee and three of his associates to a day's judicial custody. Today, he entered the court complex in a white 'kurta-pyjama', with his face covered.
Akash was arrested on Wednesday after he slapped a traffic cop who stopped his car for driving on the wrong side of the road. Eyewitnesses said that after Mr Banerjee slapped the cop, he shouted, "Don't you know who I am?" He was allowed to leave soon after, but was arrested after local media began reporting on the incident.
Yesterday Akash's lawyer pleaded for bail claiming his offence was "trivial and commonplace." He added that the reports of the incident were exaggerated. He also pointed out that the police had not submitted any medical report of the allegedly assaulted policeman. The bail plea was denied but the judge asked for the case diary to be presented in court today.
The assault and Mr Banerjee's arrest has landed the chief minister in a raging controversy. But her party continues to suggest that the fact that her nephew slapped a traffic policeman is not a big deal. "There has been a small incident," said Firhad Hakim, a minister in Ms Banerjee's government in Bengal. "Why only Kolkata? Across India, those who drive vehicles often have angry exchanges with traffic police and even get into scuffles," he added.
The chief minister's party insists that his arrest proves that his relationship to Ms Banerjee has not offered him undue protection.