School jobs scam: Cal HC grants bail to Partha Chatterjee, unlikely to walk out of jail just yet

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted bail to former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the teacher recruitment irregularities case under investigation of the CBI.

Chatterjee, the prime accused in the cash-for-jobs scam in Bengal’s state-run schools, which perceptively runs into several thousand crores and has rocked state politics for the past several years, was granted bail in a case on irregularities in primary school recruitment, the charge sheet on which was filed by the CBI on December 27 last year.

The former minister has been behind bars for over three years now, and has already been granted bail in the other cases slapped on him by the central investigating agencies – the ED and CBI. The latest bail order makes him eligible to walk out of jail once the formalities of furnishing bail bonds are over.

Lawyers, however, expressed doubts on whether the former minister would be set free ahead of the Durga Puja festival, and opined that in the wake of a Supreme Court order pertaining to a related case, Chatterjee’s formalities can only be completed once the courts reopen after puja vacations.

Granting bail to Chatterjee, Justice Suvra Ghosh observed, "allegation against the petitioner involves abuse of his official position which he no longer holds. He, therefore, cannot be said to be in a position to misuse his office or commit similar offences." Justice Ghosh directed Chatterjee to furnish a bond of Rs 10 lakh with adequate sureties of like amount each.

He was also asked to surrender his passport and not leave the jurisdiction of the trial court without its permission, and appear before it on every date of hearing.

Justice Ghosh also directed that the former minister, who is a Trinamool Congress MLA, not be appointed to any public office during the pendency of the trial.

Observing that there is little chance of his abscondence or evasion of the process of law, Justice Ghosh noted that Chatterjee was interrogated by the investigating agency only on one occasion on October 15, 2024.

"Therefore, it can be inferred that the investigating agency does not require further custodial interrogation of the petitioner," the high court said.

The CBI's counsel opposed the bail prayer, pleading that all the accused persons, including the petitioner, joined hands in securing illegal appointment of undeserving candidates in lieu of extraneous consideration.

He stated that given the status and influence of the petitioner, chances of the witnesses being intimidated or influenced cannot be ruled out if Chatterjee is granted bail at this stage.

On August 18, the Supreme Court had granted bail to Chatterjee in a related case investigated by the CBI, but said he would be released only after the trial court records statements of material witnesses.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh had noted that Chatterjee spent nearly three years in jail and his continued incarceration would be a "travesty of justice".

The top court directed the charges to be framed within four weeks under the Prevention of Corruption Act against public servants, with the statements being recorded within two months.

According to Calcutta High Court lawyers, the process of recording statements in that matter is not yet over, and would be completed only after the courts reopen after the puja vacations, preventing Chatterjee from furnishing his bail bond just yet.

In the current case, involving illegal school appointments at the primary level, the CBI also named Ayan Sil, a private developer and an accused in the state municipal body recruitment scam, and Santu Gangopadhyay, another private promoter and an alleged close confidant of the former minister, in its December 27 charge sheet, besides naming Chatterjee.

The leader’s son-in-law and co-accused in the case, Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya, has turned state approver.

Chatterjee, then state education minister and the secretary general of the TMC, was arrested by the CBI on July 22, 2022 following night-long raids at his south Kolkata residence during which the agency claimed to have seized incriminating documents relating to 12 immovable properties in the name of Chatterjee's close associates and documents showing the appointment of Group D staff.

Subsequent searches conducted in the residential premises of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Chatterjee, further led to the seizure of nearly Rs 50 crore in cash and gold jewellery worth over Rs 5 crore.

Chatterjee was accused of being involved in a racket effecting illegal appointments of unmerited candidates to the posts of primary school teachers, assistant school teachers and other posts in the education department.

After several unsuccessful candidates in the teachers' eligibility test conducted by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education moved the Calcutta High Court, the latter ordered a CBI probe into the allegations on June 8, 2022.

The CBI registered an FIR the next day and the ED lodged a case on June 24, 2022 against several office-bearers of the state education department.