West Bengal forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who was arrested on October 27 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged public distribution system scam, made his wife and daughter directors of three shell companies, the federal agency claimed before a Kolkata court on Sunday, lawyers who attended the hearing said.
The court remanded Mallick in judicial custody till November 16. He was taken to Presidency correctional home in a prison van late in the afternoon as Bengal celebrated Kali puja and Diwali.
“I am extremely unwell. My left arm and left leg are getting paralysed. Today, I am free from ED custody. I am going to jail,” Mallick told reporters when he was taken out of the court.
The alleged scam, in which subsidised food grains meant for the PDS system were allegedly siphoned to the open market for sale, took place when Mallick was the food minister of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government between 2011 (when the party came to power for the first time) and 2021.
ED’s lawyers told the Bankshall court on Sunday that Mallick instructed his chartered accountants to make his wife, Manidipa, and daughter, Priyadarshini, directors of three shell companies which are among several others under scanner.
Mallick refuted this while talking to reporters outside the court.
{{/usCountry}}Mallick refuted this while talking to reporters outside the court.
{{/usCountry}}“You (the media) gave such instructions. ED is saying a lot of things,” Mallick said.
“The ED claimed before court that Mallick confessed this when he was interrogated in the presence of this wife and daughter who were summoned for questioning,” a lawyer present during the hearing said on condition of anonymity.
Sunday’s development became significant in view of what ED told the Bankshall court on Saturday when rice mill owner and hotelier Bakibur Rahaman, who was arrested on October 14 and is alleged to be a key player in the scam, was produced before a judge.
The ED claimed before the court that Rahaman gave an interest-free loan of ₹9 crore to the minister’s companies in 2016-17 without any collateral.
The money, which was later transferred to the bank accounts of the minister’s wife and daughter, was proceeds from the scam, the ED claimed before the court on Saturday when Rahaman’s judicial custody was extended till November 22.
Mallick was taken to the Army’s Eastern Command Hospital in Kolkata for medical examination before he was produced before the court.
Mallick’s lawyers did not appeal for his bail although the tenure of his remand in ED custody came to an end on Sunday but claimed that he was extremely unwell.
Refuting this, ED’s lawyers told the court that doctors at the Army hospital declared the minister physically fit. A medical report was also placed before the judge in a sealed envelope.
The TMC has already spoken in support of Mallick.
Ten million fake ration cards were issued in West Bengal during the 34-year-rule of the Left Front, chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on November 1 referring to the ED probe and said Mallick worked hard to cancel the fakes ones and ensure 100 % digitisation of ration cards.