In school jobs case, Bengal minister, aide in ED custody till Aug 3, says court

Partha Chatterjee and his aide were arrested on Saturday in school jobs case.

Published on: Jul 25, 2022, 23:05:33 IST

By HT News Desk | Edited by Swati Bhasin

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Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee have been sent to the Enforcement Directorate custody till August 3, a special court said on Monday night. Both of them have been arrested over alleged discrepancies in recruitments for schools The ED last week - on Friday - said that cash worth over ₹21 crore was found at the home of Mukherjee.

Acting on the ED’s petition, the single-judge bench of Justice Bibek Chaudhuri ordered on Sunday night that Partha Chatterjee must be taken to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar on Monday morning in an air ambulance for a medical check-up and flown back for court production the same day. (SAMIR JANA/HT PHOTO.)

The next day both of them were arrested, prompting attacks on the ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal from the rival BJP.

While Chatterjee was hospitalised right after he was taken into custody, the central probe agency had raised objections to him being admitted to a state-run hospital in Bengal. After its objection being dismissed in a lower court on Saturday, the ED took up the matter in the high court on Sunday.

On Sunday night, the high court ordered that the minister could be flown to Odisha to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for a check-up where the doctor finally said he did not need hospitalisation.

During the court hearing on Monday, the central probe agency presented the AIIMS Bhubaneswar medical report of Partha Chatterjee and sought 14 days of custody. "There is nothing wrong with medical reports. He was taking advantage of his position to stay in a state-run hospital. He is fit and can be taken into custody," the court was told, news agency ANI reported.

Countering attacks from the ED, Partha's lawyer told the court: "There were no directions from the High Court to arrest him. They went to his house without a summon and continued to interrogate for 30 hours. He was detained on July 22. Now three days of his custody has already been completed."

Amid the hearing, Mukherjee's lawyer had raised concerns about her safety after the car she was in met with an accident on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee broke her silence on Monday. "I will not get into the details of the case as it is sub judice. We have full faith in the judiciary. We want a time-bound probe into the matter. If someone is found guilty, the person should be punished accordingly, be it life imprisonment. I won't mind. But, I condemn the malicious campaign against me," she said.

(With inputs from ANI, PTI)

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