A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday stepped aside from hearing four criminal revision applications submitted by Md Nazibuddin Mondal, an alleged illegal sand and stone operator commonly known as Tulu Mondal.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya released the four matters from his roster and directed that they be placed before the Chief Justice for appropriate assignment orders. Explaining the decision, the judge observed that his court had already disposed of a quashing application concerning Mondal on September 22, leaving no pending matters related to the trader before his bench.
Case History And Procedural Transfers
The four petitions had recently been assigned to Justice Bhattacharyya after a coordinate bench of the high court released them on September 21. That coordinate bench had relinquished the matters citing the pendency of other proceedings involving Mondal in Justice Bhattacharyya’s courtroom. However, with the earlier application already decided, Justice Bhattacharyya noted that there was no ground to retain the cases.
Fugitive Proclamation And Multi-Crore Seizures
In the ruling delivered on September 22, Justice Bhattacharyya had dismissed Mondal’s petition challenging an arrest warrant and a lower court order declaring him a proclaimed fugitive. The high court declined to interfere with the subordinate court’s directives after recording that Mondal had left India on May 23.
The legal proceedings unfold amid a broader police investigation into Mondal’s operations in West Bengal. Law enforcement personnel previously seized 5 kilograms of gold bars and more than Rs 28.53 crore in cash—amounting to an aggregate value of nearly Rs 50 crore—from the residence of an alleged associate of Mondal in Mohammad Bazar, located in the state’s Birbhum district.
