Gauhati High Court grants bail to co-singer of late Zunbeen Garg in singer's death case

The Gauhati High Court on Friday granted bail to Amritprava Mahanta, a co-singer of the late singer Zubeen Garg, in connection with the investigation into his death.

The Gauhati High Court on Friday granted bail to Amritprava Mahanta, a co-singer of the late singer Zubeen Garg, in connection with the investigation into his death. With this, Amritprava Mahanta became the first alleged accused in the case to secure bail from the court.

According to Special Public Prosecutor Ziaul Kamar, the Gauhati High Court granted bail to Mahanta on a bond of Rs 50,000. She was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Assam Police in 2025 following hours of questioning in connection with Garg's death. The bail order came after Mahanta filed a bail petition before the High Court.

The singer passed away in Singapore on September 19, 2025, in a scuba diving accident, a day before he was supposed to perform at the Northeast India Festival. Shyamkanu Mahanta, the organiser of the Northeast India Festival since 2013, was also arrested following Garg's death.

In August, the Supreme Court directed the Assam government to ensure a diligent and expeditious trial against Northeast Festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta, facing criminal charges in singer Zubeen Garg's death case. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan was informed by the State that the trial was being conducted on a day-to-day basis and that several key witnesses were expected to depose in the coming weeks.

Justice Nagarathna observed orally that the court was putting the State under pressure to ensure that the trial progressed and said that the bench would assess the progress made when the matter came up again. Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mahanta, argued that the singer was an adult who had voluntarily boarded a boat, entered the sea wearing a life jacket and subsequently drowned, while Mahanta was not present when the incident occurred.

He also questioned the allegation that Mahanta had conspired to cause Garg's death by failing to take adequate care of him or by providing him alcohol. Dave said that Garg was an adult and that Mahanta could not be held responsible for his decision to consume alcohol. The State, however, maintained that Garg's death was not an accident and that the prosecution had material suggesting a conspiracy. (ANI)