On Friday, the Calcutta High Court granted conditional bail to Partha Chatterjee, arrested by the CBI in the primary education recruitment corruption case. Justice Subhra Ghosh approved his bail application on this day. However, the court has imposed several conditions on the bail of the former state education minister.
In this context, his lawyers claim that Partha Chatterjee has now secured bail in all cases related to the recruitment corruption. Nevertheless, a section of the legal fraternity remains skeptical about whether he will be released from jail immediately.
Although the Supreme Court granted bail to Partha Chatterjee in another recruitment corruption case, lawyers assert that the apex court has set a timeline for the trial process.
Notably, in its judgment on August 18, the Supreme Court stated that the charges must be framed within one month and the recording of evidence must be completed within two months in this case. Lawyers claim that the former education minister will be released from jail only after this process is completed. Consequently, they believe it will still take some time for this procedure to conclude.
>As a condition of bail, the High Court has stated that he cannot hold any government position (cannot be given responsibility of public office) until the trial is completed. However, he can work in his area as a public representative.
>He must surrender his passport.
>He must meet with the investigating officer once a month.
>He cannot leave the jurisdiction of the lower court.
It's worth noting that in 2022, the ED first arrested Partha Chatterjee in the school recruitment corruption case. He has been in jail since then. Previously, he had received bail in the ED case as per the Supreme Court's directive. The special CBI court in Alipore had granted him bail in cases related to irregularities in the recruitment of teachers for classes IX-X and XI-XII. Now, he has also received bail in the primary recruitment corruption case.
In 2022, the ED conducted a raid at Arpita Mukherjee's residence and recovered a substantial amount of cash from her two flats. She is also currently out on bail.
