Nandigram: Cong candidate’s arrest in focus; BJP nominee's age under scrutiny

The legal battle over Congress candidate Milan Pradhan’s custody will take centre stage before Calcutta High Court on Thursday, 24 September, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the Nandigram Assembly by-poll scheduled for 6 October.

Pradhan’s lawyer will make an urgent mentioning before Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, seeking his intervention over the Congress candidate’s continued custody in connection with a 2007 criminal case linked to the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement.

Pradhan was arrested on 18 September, shortly after the Mamata Banerjee faction of the Trinamool Congress announced its support for his candidature. His lawyers have argued that the case in which he was arrested had not been mentioned by the state government's advocate during Tuesday’s hearing on his plea seeking protection from coercive action.

The prosecution, however, has argued that whenever an election is held in an area, the police are required under an Election Commission guideline to execute pending arrest warrants before polling.

The state's lawyer told the high court on Tuesday that 11 criminal cases were pending against Pradhan and that he had been remanded to judicial custody in connection with five of them.

Of the six other cases in which Pradhan had sought protection, the state said the previous TMC government had closed five and that he was not wanted in the remaining one. Pradhan was subsequently shown arrested in another criminal case involving murder and other charges and remanded to judicial custody until 7 October — a day after polling in Nandigram on 6 October, his lawyer said.

The Congress candidate’s arrest has become a flashpoint in a by-poll already marked by an extraordinary dispute over the TMC’s name and election symbol. After the Election Commission barred the rival factions from using the 'All India Trinamool Congress' name and 'twin flowers and grass' symbol pending a final decision, the Mamata Banerjee faction withdrew its Nandigram candidate and later extended support to Pradhan.

Meanwhile, the high court will also hear a separate petition on Thursday challenging the age and educational details furnished by BJP candidate Hasirani Rath. She is also the mother of Chandranath Rath, the former close aide and personal assistant of West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari. Chandranath was shot dead in May, shortly after the 2026 Assembly election results. The BJP subsequently fielded his mother from Nandigram. 

Lawyer Ritju Ghosal told Justice Krishna Rao that Rath’s election affidavit lists her age as above 60, while stating that she passed Class 10 in 1965. Ghosal alleged that the details raised a discrepancy regarding her age and the time at which she obtained the educational qualification.

The court allowed Ghosal to file the petition and directed that the matter be heard on Thursday. It also directed that notice be served on the opposite party in the meantime.

Ghosal argued that Election Commission officials were responsible for verifying the documents submitted by candidates and sought an examination of the documents furnished by Rath for the bypoll.

With PTI inputs