Calcutta HC asks State to allow Congress candidate Milan Pradhan to contest Nandigram bypoll

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday (September 24, 2026) reiterated that arrested Congress candidate Milan Pradhan be allowed to contest the Nandigram byelection properly, while holding that he would not be treated as arrested in a case for which he was sent to judicial remand by a lower court till October 7.

Bypoll in Nandigram is scheduled for October 6, with campaigning ending on October 4.

Taking up Mr. Pradhan's lawyer's plea that he was shown arrested and remanded to judicial custody till October 7 in a 2007 criminal case other than the 11 cases mentioned before the High Court on September 22, Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya noted that no document was produced by the State to show that a production warrant was served upon Mr. Pradhan.