New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has set a deadline for bail to former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in a money laundering case related to the alleged cash-for-job scam and directed to speed up the trial against him. He should be released on February 1 – or before if charges are framed against him and witness statements are recorded, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan has said.
Mr Chatterjee, once a trusted lieutenant of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was removed as a minister and suspended by Trinamool after his arrest in a money laundering case related to the alleged teacher recruitment scam in July 2022.
The Enforcement Directorate had filed the chargesheet in the case, but the charges are yet to be framed. “We direct the trial court to decide on framing of charges before the winter vacation begins or before 31.12.2024,” the Supreme Court said on Friday. The court also noted that Mr Chatterjee is still an undertrial accused and cannot be subjected to punitive detention.
The senior politician had approached the Supreme Court after being refused bail earlier in April by the Calcutta High Court.
Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, representing the politician, had earlier argued that he has been in jail for over two years whereas the punishment for the charges he faced was seven years’ imprisonment. Mr Chatterjee’s aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose house a large amount of cash was seized, has also been granted bail, he had pointed out.
The Supreme Court had last month questioned the ED over low conviction rates in money laundering cases and asked how long the ex-minister can be kept behind bars.
