Court rejects Satadru Dutta's bail plea in Messi's Salt Lake event chaos case

Satadru Dutta, the primary organizer behind Lionel Messi's controversial visit to Kolkata, faced a major legal setback on Friday as the Bidhannagar Sub-divisional Court rejected his bail application for the second time. Dutta was produced in court following the expiry of his previous custody period. Despite his lawyers pleading for bail on grounds of ill health and the care of his minor son, the court remained unmoved by the defense's arguments and remanded him to custody until the next hearing on January 17.

The prosecution, led by lawyer Bibhas Chatterjee, presented gravity-defying allegations regarding financial mismanagement. Investigations by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) revealed that out of the ₹21.94 crore collected from ticket sales, approximately ₹10 crore was diverted into personal accounts. Authorities have already frozen accounts and seized assets worth ₹22 crore belonging to Dutta. The police had earlier conducted raids at his Rishra residence to recover bank documents and transaction details linked to the event at Salt Lake Stadium.

A significant portion of Friday's hearing focused on the thousands of disappointed fans who purchased tickets for the ill-fated event on December 13. The government counsel suggested invoking Section 107 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to facilitate the refund process through the District Magistrate. Out of the 40,000 tickets sold, nearly 35,000 were purchased online, and the court will deliberate further on the technicalities of returning these funds during the next session.