Supreme Court adjourns hearing on former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee’s bail plea

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned hearing on the bail plea of former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the money laundering case linked to the alleged cash-for-school job scam.   A bench, headed by Justice Surya Kant, decided to defer the hearing to review the period of custody undergone by Chatterjee in the ED as well as the CBI case. As per the computerised case status reflected on the apex court website, the matter is tentatively listed for hearing on December 4. In the previous hearing, the Bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, hinted at granting relief to Chatterjee and expressed concern over the delay in the commencement of the trial. Questioning the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as to how long can Chatterjee be kept behind bars, the Justice Kant-led Bench had asked, “How long can we keep him behind bars? This is a case where more than 2 years have passed. If ultimately he (Chatterjee) is not convicted, what will happen?” It had also flagged the poor conviction rate in the cases lodged by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In response, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the ED, had highlighted that there were serious corruption charges against the former West Bengal minister as jobs were offered to undeserving candidates after receiving bribes. ASG Raju added that Partha Chatterjee was under the CBI custody in the predicate offence and if released on bail, he will influence the witnesses to retract their statements. On the other hand, senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi, appearing on Chatterjee’s behalf, had contended that the former minister had been under custody for over two years and there was no likelihood of early completion of the trial. Rohtagi, instructed by advocate Misha Rastogi, also raised suspicion on the timing of arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) saying that Chatterjee was arrested after two years of registration of the FIR when his bail petition in the ED case was pending adjudication before the top court. (IANS)

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