08.07.2026 Sl. No.30 Court No.7 Susanta CALCUTTA HIGH COURT IN THE CIRCUIT BENCH AT JALPAIGURI CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS JURISDICTION CRM (R) 23 of 2026 In Re: An application for bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 filed in connection with Matigara Police Station Case No.238 of 2025 dated 10.04.2025 under Sections 13 and 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946. In Re : Sourav Mohanta @ Sourav Mohonto @ Anik Mohanta @ Papan & Anr. … Petitioners. Mr. Dhiraj Lakhotia Ms. Radhika Agarwal Ms. Khushi Kundu Ms. Nikita Kundu Ms. Neha Lama … for the Petitioners. Mr. Avrojyoti Das, Ld. APP Mr. Uday Bhattacharjee Mr. Rajdeep Das … for the State. 1. The petitioners are in custody for 456 days. A two and half years child is also in custody along with the petitioners. 2. The petitioners admit that they are Bangladeshi citizens. They seek benefit of the order published by the Ministry of Home Affairs dated 1st September, 2025 exempting the Bangladeshi citizens to carry travel documents provided they have entered India on or before 31st December, 2024. 3. The petitioners claim that they entered India before the aforesaid cut-off date and the same is reflected in the FIR lodged by the police. 4. Prayer has been made for grant of bail. 2 5. Reliance has been placed on the order dated 20th March, 2026 passed by this Court in CRM(M) 620 of 2026 wherein prayer for grant of bail was allowed by the Court under similar circumstances. 6. The learned APP opposes the prayer for bail of the petitioner. 7. It has been submitted that apart from the charge under the Foreigners Act, 1946, the petitioners have been found to be carrying fake Aadhaar Card and other documents of India. 8. On perusal of the case diary it appears that the petitioners have only been charged under the Foreigners Act and charge-sheet has already been filed against them under the said Act. No other charge has been mentioned in the charge-sheet. 9. In view of the order of the Ministry of Home Affairs, dated 1st September, 2025, and in view of the fact that the petitioners entered India prior to the cut-off date, the Court is inclined to allow the prayer for bail of the petitioners. 10. As such, the prayer for bail of the petitioners stands allowed. 11. The petitioners, viz. Sourav Mohanta @ Sourav Mohonto alias Anik Mohanta alias Papan and Taniya Mohanta alias Tamanna Akter are released on bail of Rs. 10,000/- (rupees ten thousand only) each with two sureties of like amount each, one of whom must be local, to the satisfaction of the learned Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court), Siliguri subject to the following conditions:- a. The petitioners shall appear before the learned Trial Court on every date of hearing until further order. 3 b. The petitioners shall report to the I.O. once in a fortnight or as and when called for. c. The petitioners shall not leave the jurisdiction of the Matigara Police Station without taking the leave of the Court or until further order. d. The petitioners shall furnish the address where they are currently residing before the learned trial court and they shall not leave the jurisdiction of the concerned Police Station without taking the leave of the Court or until further order. 12. In case the petitioners violate any of the above conditions, the learned trial court shall be at liberty to cancel their bail without further reference to this Court. 13. Accordingly, CRM (R) 23 of 2026 is allowed. 14. Parties to act on the basis of the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. 15. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties upon compliance of all requisite formalities. (Amrita Sinha, J.)