Supreme Court grants bail to TMC's Kuntal Ghosh in West Bengal teacher recruitment case

The court granted bail to Kuntal Ghosh with conditions: not to leave Bengal without the court's permission and refrain from speaking to media about allegations.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Kuntal Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress youth leader, in connection with the teacher recruitment scam being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

TMC leader Kuntal Ghosh was arrested by the ED on January 21, 2023, in a money laundering case and later arrested by the CBI on February 20, 2023, in connection with the corruption case related to the West Bengal primary school recruitment scam. (PTI) (File)

The court imposed several conditions, including a ban on him holding any public office while the proceedings were ongoing before the trial court. He was also instructed not to leave West Bengal without the trial court’s permission and to refrain from speaking to the media about the allegations.

Earlier this month, Kuntal Ghosh was granted bail in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case related to the same scam.

Advocate MS Khan, representing Ghosh, presented two trial court orders to support his argument that the case is unlikely to be concluded soon, as the CBI has yet to file the final charge sheet.

On November 20, the Calcutta high court had granted conditional bail to Ghosh in a case connected to the school recruitment scam, which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating. ht new

Ghosh is accused of collecting bribes from candidates for teacher appointments. The CBI registered its case in 2022, followed by the ED's case in June 2022.

SC questions ED about Partha Chatterjee's arrest in the same case

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court raised concerns with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about the low conviction rates in money laundering cases and questioned how long former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested over alleged recruitment irregularities, could be kept in custody.

Chatterjee was arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff for West Bengal government-sponsored and aided primary schools.

The ED arrested Chatterjee and his alleged close aide Mukherjee as part of its investigation into the money trail linked to these illegal recruitments.

The central probing agency recovered ₹49.80 crore in cash, along with jewelry, gold bars, and property documents from Mukherjee's flats, as well as records of joint holdings in a company.

After his arrest, Chatterjee was stripped of his ministerial responsibilities by the Mamata Banerjee government, and the TMC also removed him from all party positions, including that of secretary general.