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Kolkata court rejects ED petition for minister’s custody in bribe-for-job case
West Bengal correctional services minister Chandranath Sinha surrendered before the designated ED court on September 6 and was granted anticipatory bail.
A Kolkata court on Wednesday rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s petition seeking custody of West Bengal correctional services minister Chandranath Sinha for interrogation in the alleged corruption in the appointment of school teachers and staff in 2016, lawyers who attended the hearing said.
“The agency, which submitted its charge sheet against Sinha on August 6, told the designated ED court that he needs to be interrogated in custody but the prayer was rejected,” a lawyer said, requesting anonymity.
“I have full faith in the judiciary. I have been saying that I am innocent. The court’s decision vindicates my stand,” Sinha told the media after his bail was upheld on Wednesday.
The court, however, directed Sinha to cooperate with the ED and visit its office on September 25 and 26 so that he can be questioned, the lawyer added.
Sinha surrendered before the designated ED court on September 6 and was granted anticipatory bail. He appeared before the court on September 12 and the charges were read out to him. The trial in this case has started at Kolkata’s Alipore court.
ED launched an investigation against Sinha under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and recovered ₹42 lakh from his Bolpur residence in March. ED has alleged that Sinha could not explain the source of the cash.
Sinha, the legislator from Birbhum district’s Bolpur seat, is the second state cabinet minister to face prosecution in the bribe-for-job case after former education minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by ED in July 2022. Chatterjee is currently in judicial custody.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed its final charges on September 11 at the Alipore court against Chatterjee, ex-minister Paresh Adhikari, the latter’s daughter, and the other accused persons.
The investigation in this case started in May 2022 when the Calcutta high court ordered the CBI to probe the appointments of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021 when Partha Chatterjee was the education minister. The appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of ₹5-15 lakh to get jobs after failing the selection tests.
ED had started a parallel investigation at the same time.
