The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday (October 20, 2026) extended the interim bail of Congress leader Milan Pradhan in a 2007 Nandigram violence case till November 25, 2026. A single-judge vacation bench of Justice Partha Pratim Roy passed the order and directed Pradhan to surrender before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Haldia, on November 27, 2026. The conditions imposed when interim bail was first granted will continue to apply, Live Law reported.

Pradhan was first granted interim bail on September 29 by a coordinate bench, on a bond of Rs 20,000 (yaani twenty thousand rupees) with two sureties of Rs 10,000 each, one of them a local resident. That relief was initially valid until October 20, with a direction to surrender on October 21.

The State had challenged the interim bail order before the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition. On October 7, the Supreme Court disposed of that petition and gave Pradhan liberty to approach the High Court for an extension of interim bail or for regular bail. Following that order, Pradhan moved the High Court seeking the extension, which Justice Roy granted after hearing his counsel.

The case, Milan Pradhan v. State of West Bengal, CRM(M) 2510 of 2026, arises from Nandigram Police Station Case No. 9 of 2007, registered under Sections 147, 148, 149, 323, 325, 326, 307, 379, 384, 436 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. The charges are allegations in a case that is still before the courts.

Pradhan had contested the recently concluded Nandigram Assembly bypoll as the Congress candidate, with backing from a Trinamool Congress faction led by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, and was defeated by BJP candidate Hasirani Rath by a margin of about 1.23 lakh votes (yaani about 123,000 votes), IANS reported. West Bengal Congress president Suvankar Sarkar expressed satisfaction with Tuesday's order and said the party has full faith in the judicial system and would continue to fight Pradhan's case, according to IANS.

Sources: Live Law; IANS (via Nation Press and hi INDiA).