Cattle smuggling case: SC asks Delhi HC to decide bail plea of Sukanya Mondal in 3 months

New Delhi [India], June 7 : The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Delhi High Court to decide within three months bail plea of Sukanya Mondal, who was arrested in a money laundering case related to cattle smuggling in West Bengal.
A vacation bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta said in its order, "We request the High Court of Delhi to dispose of the bail application filed by the petitioner expeditiously and preferably within three months from the date of re-opening (of the court)."
The apex court took into note the submission of Mondal's counsel that the bail proceedings before the High Court are being repeatedly deferred.
Sukanya is the daughter of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal, who is also in judicial custody in the same case.
She was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 26, 2023. In the High Court, she had challenged a trial court's June 1, 2023 order dismissing her bail plea. High Court had adjourned her bail plea till July 12.
The cattle smuggling case involves allegations that cattle were illegally smuggled to Bangladesh by bribing Border Security Force (BSF) personnel.
Anubrata Mondal, TMC's Birbhum district president, was arrested by the CBI in connection with the same case on August 11, 2022 and later ED arrested him on November 17, 2022 in the alleged multi-crore rupees cattle smuggling scam.