Guwahati, Feb. 16: Assamese singer and filmmaker Sadananda Gogoi was today granted permanent bail by Calcutta High Court in the Saradha scam but with the rider that he would not leave Calcutta and would cooperate with the CBI.

Gogoi, who has been in jail for over two years, was granted bail by a division bench of acting Chief Justice Nishita Nirmal Mhatre and Justice Tapash Mookherjee on a bond of Rs 25 lakh and two sureties, his counsel Biplab Goswami told The Telegraph over phone from Calcutta.

Seeking bail for the petitioner, Goswami argued before the court that Gogoi was languishing in judicial custody though there has been no progress in investigation in his case since August 2015. The CBI had last interrogated Gogoi in July 2015.

Milan Mukherjee, another counsel for Gogoi, submitted that Gogoi had earlier moved a bail prayer before the high court after having spent 308 days in custody, which had been denied. He has since spent another 581 days in custody but was questioned only once by the CBI during this period. Arguing that Gogoi had spent 889 days in custody so far, Mukherjee prayed that he be granted bail, reports PTI.

Goswami also cited "deterioration" of Gogoi's health as a reason for granting him bail. Gogoi was admitted to Hindustan Health Point Hospital in Calcutta on December 22, 2015 after his health deteriorated and has been in the hospital since then. He is expected to be released tomorrow even-ing on completion of the bail formalities.

The CBI had told the court that it had no objection if Gogoi was granted interim bail, but the court, after hearing both the parties, decided to grant him permanent bail.

The bench, however, directed Gogoi not to leave the jurisdiction of Calcutta police commissionerate and meet the investigating officer once a month. "The court also directed him to deposit his passport with the investigating agency," Goswami said.

Since the high court has said Gogoi can't leave Calcutta without taking permission of the trial court, his lawyers are likely to file an application in the trial court to permit him to travel to Guwahati.

The singer was arrested by the CBI from Guwahati on September 14, 2014 for his alleged role in the multi-crore scam. There were allegations against Gogoi that he had siphoned off a huge amount of money from Saradha Realty Group and was instrumental in introducing Saradha boss Sudipta Sen to many Assam ministers, politicians and top police officers. He allegedly took Rs 4 lakh to make a documentary on a biscuit factory set up by the Saradha Group in Dhubri district.