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Court extends ED custody of Partha Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee
The former minister and his aide were produced before the court as their 10-day ED custody ended on Wednesday.
A special court in Kolkata on Wednesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee till August 5 in connection with an case pertaining to irregularities in school teacher recruitments.
The special prevention of money laundering act (PMLA) court’s order came on a day when the federal agency said it has unearthed properties in the duo’s name and conducted fresh raids on Wednesday.
“ED had sought four-day custody for both Chatterjee and Mukherjee. The court granted two days of custody,” said Niladri Bhattacharya, Mukherjee’s counsel. “We are happy with the order. The court has also given us access to meet our client for 15 minutes on Thursday.”
Also read: ED becomes 'weapon of mass destruction' after SC rule, says Karti Chidambaram
The former minister and his aide were produced before the court as their 10-day ED custody ended on Wednesday.
Chatterjee, the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) state secretary general, and his close associate Mukherjee were arrested on July 23 for their alleged involvement in the multi-crore recruitment scam in state’s government schools between 2014 and 2021. Chatterjee was the then Bengal’s education minister.
After his arrest, Chatterjee was sacked from the cabinet and suspended from the TMC.
“The court was told that Arpita Mukherjee was cooperating more than Partha Chatterjee during interrogation. The duo needs to be interrogated further as properties including cash, gold, companies and flats have been unearthed and many more need to be dug up,” said a senior ED official, requesting anonymity. “Every day, fresh facts related to properties are surfacing.”
Till Wednesday, ED has recovered around ₹50 crore in cash, gold worth ₹5 crore, US currency worth around ₹54 lakh, multiple companies (including those dealing in real estate, textile and specialised machinery, all with very little share capitals), shops dealing with nail art and at least nine flats, mostly in the name of these companies.
ED officials said that interrogation has revealed that the duo hold 50% share each in a company named APA Utility Services. At least four flats are believed to be registered in the name of this company, said the ED official.
“ED has made this allegation in the remand application and has mentioned just two lines. They can write whatever they want in the remand stage, but they would have to ultimately produce supporting documents,” said Bhattacharya.
On Wednesday, ED conducted fresh raids at a farmhouse at Santiniketan in Birbhum district. ED officials said while the plot was purchased jointly by Chatterjee and Mukherjee in 2012, the mutation was done in the latter’s name in 2020.
Also read: ED raids more premises linked to Partha’s aide Arpita Mukherjee
Agency officials left the Kolkata office early on Wednesday in a convoy comprising six vehicles and started their raid at the farmhouse around 11.15 am. The search lasted for more than seven hours, said ED officials familiar with the development.
During the raid, ED officials dug up a portion of the soil in the backyard of the farmhouse. A senior official said that during the search, officials came across some lose soil in the backyard and checked whether something was hidden there.
“ED has made certain allegations but not given us any documents. Until they submit the charge sheet, we can’t say anything,” said Debashish Roy, Chatterjee’s counsel.
