ED gets 10-day custody of Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, aide

A court in Kolkata on Monday sent arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chaterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee to 10 days of Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in connection with its probe into the school jobs scam.

The ED had prayed for 14 days custody of Chatterjee, stating that AIIMS, Bhubaneswar has said in a report after medical examination of the minister that no active intervention is required over his health.

Rejecting a bail prayer of the minister, special ED Court judge Jibon Kumar Sadhu at Bankshall in Kolkata extended ED custody of the minister and also of Mukherjee till August 3.

The court has asked the two accused to be produced before it on August 3.

Chatterjee was produced before the court on Saturday and remanded to two-day ED custody, while Mukherjee was produced before the court on Sunday and remanded to one-day custody.

Also read: Partha Chatterjee arrest: The guilty must be punished, says Mamata

The ED had requested court to grant it 14 days of custody of Chatterjee stating that he has been in state-run SSKM Hospital allegedly faking illness and thus the agency could not question him during the two-day remand granted by the CMM in-charge court on Saturday.

The agency also prayed for Mukherjee’s custody for 13 days.

The Calcutta High court on Sunday directed that Chatterjee be taken to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, for a medical check-up by specialists of various departments on Monday morning.

The judge directed that medical examination be conducted of both the accused every 48 hours of their detention in ED custody.

The court directed the investigating officer not to inflict torture upon the accused persons. The investigating officer was directed not to subject Mukherjee to custodial interrogation between 9 PM and 6 PM.

The high court had on Sunday directed that the minister, who was the education minister when the scam took place, be virtually produced before a special ED court in Kolkata at 4 PM on Monday.

The ED had moved the high court challenging an order by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (in-charge), Calcutta, sending Chatterjee to SSKM Hospital while rejecting his bail prayer and granting two-day custody to the agency.

Additional solicitor general S V Raju submitted before Judge Sadhu the report of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, which he said stated that no active intervention is required for chronic illnesses suffered by Chatterjee.

The report also said that his vital parameters like blood pressure and oxygen saturation level were normal and blood sugar was under control.

Opposing the prayer of ED, Chatterjee’s lawyer prayed for his bail. Mukherjees counsel prayed that a short custody be given for her and that her security be ensured owing to Sunday’s incident in which a vehicle hit a car of the convoy carrying her from court after production.

Seeking remand of Chatterjee and Mukherjee, the ASG claimed before the court that this is a very serious scam where deserving candidates were deprived of appointment as teachers in schools and undeserving candidates with money were given jobs.

During raids on Monday, ₹21.9 crore in cash, gold ornaments, several mobile phones and other documents including a joint property deed were recovered at Mukherjee’s residence.

It was submitted by the ED counsel that during search of Mukherjee’s residence, a conveyance deed in the joint name of Chatterjee and Mukherjee was seized, which he claimed makes it clear that the association goes back to at least 2012.

(With inputs from agencies)