Ex-Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee's 'aide' gets bail in school jobs scam

In July 2022, the ED arrested Arpita Mukherjee and accused her of being a close associate of former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, who is also in custody in connection with the case.

In Short

• Arpita Mukherjee got bail on Rs 5 lakh personal bond with strict conditions
• Court ordered her not to leave Kolkata and surrender her passport
• Mukherjee was arrested in July 2022, accused of being Partha Chatterjee's aide

A special ED court on Monday granted bail to Arpita Mukherjee, an 'aide' of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam.

In July 2022, the ED arrested Mukherjee and accused her of being a close associate of Chatterjee, who is also in custody in connection with the case.

Mukherjee had filed a bail plea before the ED court, seeking bail in any condition. However, the central probe agency objected to the bail plea, saying that the investigation would be hampered as the matter was still under probe.

Advocate Niladri Bhattacharya, appearing on behalf of Mukherjee, said, "The provision of section 479 of BNS has been made applicable in favour of female under trial prisoners passed by the Supreme Court. Also, there is no possibility of commencing trial soon, since she has undergone one-third of the prescribed punishment. She should be released from jail on any condition imposed by the court."

After hearing both sides, the court granted her bail on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh, but she has been ordered not to leave the territorial jurisdiction of Kolkata Police as part of the condition imposed by the court.

The court also ordered Mukherjee to surrender her passport and instructed her to appear before the investigating agency. She cannot meet any witnesses and tamper with evidence, the court said.

Mukherjee was already on parole as her mother passed away last week. After the death of her mother, Mukherjee was granted parole by the court on humanitarian grounds. She is not required to return to jail as the court granted her bail.

"At this moment, the paperwork and other formalities are going on. We will produce the court order copy before the jail authority tomorrow for the bail procedure," Bhattacharya said.

Chatterjee and Mukherjee were arrested by the ED in connection with its probe into the money trail in illegal appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools.

The ED has claimed to have recovered Rs 49.80 crore, jewellery and gold bars from flats owned by Mukherjee and documents of properties and a company in joint holdings. During ED questioning, she failed to give a satisfactory response regarding the source of cash and jewellery and was arrested subsequently.

(with inputs from PTI)