Kolkata: In a significant development, the Calcutta High Court on Friday granted conditional bail to Partha Chatterjee, a former education minister of West Bengal. The bail is related to the ongoing investigation into a teacher and school staff recruitment scam, being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Sources close to the legal proceedings indicated that Justice Suvra Ghosh, presiding over a single bench, stipulated several conditions for the bail. Chatterjee has been directed to surrender his passport and is barred from leaving the jurisdiction of Kolkata’s Alipore court, where the trial is currently underway. Furthermore, the court has ruled that the Trinamool Congress MLA cannot assume any public office until the conclusion of the trial.
Chatterjee has been in judicial custody since his arrest in 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel investigation into the alleged bribery-for-jobs scheme. Although the TMC had suspended him following his arrest, he continues to hold his position as the MLA for Kolkata’s Behala West constituency.
This development follows a Supreme Court decision last December that granted bail to Chatterjee in the ED case. However, the Calcutta High Court had previously denied his bail plea in the CBI case.
The trial commenced after the CBI submitted its final chargesheet in the Alipore court on September 11. The charges were filed against Chatterjee, former minister Paresh Adhikari, Adhikari’s daughter, and 18 others concerning irregularities in the 2016 recruitment examination for teachers of Classes 11 and 12 in state-run schools. Subsequent charges were also filed related to the recruitment of Class 9 and 10 teachers.
Legal experts noted that while bail has been granted, it remains uncertain if Chatterjee can be released from custody immediately, given that the trial has already begun. The prosecution, represented by federal agencies, had previously argued against bail, citing concerns that Chatterjee might influence witnesses. The ED had also filed charges against Chatterjee, his associate Arpita Mukherjee, former state primary education board president Manik Bhattacharya, and 51 others in January, in connection with Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases heard at Kolkata’s Bankshall court.
The ED’s investigation, initiated in May 2022 following a high court order, has so far traced assets worth approximately ₹103.10 crore linked to Chatterjee and Mukherjee. The probe was triggered by allegations that a significant number of appointees had paid bribes ranging from ₹5 to ₹15 lakh to secure jobs despite failing the selection tests.