Partha Chatterjee's judicial custody extended till August end

A special court, on Thursday, extended till August 31 the judicial custody of Partha Chatterjee—the suspended All India Trinamool Congress leader and former state minister—and his supposed close associate Arpita Mukherjee.

Although Chatterjee’s lawyer pleaded in court that the allegations against him were “not genuine” and asked for bail, the court refused. The 70-year-old former state education minister was taken into custody on July 23 in the case against teachers’ recruitment scam.

In the ongoing investigation regarding the irregular appointments in West Bengal’s state-run schools, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched several premises connected to Chatterjee and Mukherjee.

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Besides several documents, Rs 49.80 crore in cash was recovered from two different addresses, belonging to Mukherjee. The ED raids also led to recovery and seizure of gold worth lakhs. The ED also came across bank accounts and companies which were allegedly used for laundering money.

Apart from Chatterjee, another important Trinamool leader was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation on August 11, in the case about illegal smuggling of cattle. Anubrata Mondal, Trinamool’s chief of Birbhum district, was an accused in the case and had avoided multiple CBI summons. After a court directive, as Mondal was uncooperative, he was taken into CBI custody.

On Wednesday, the CBI traced and froze fixed deposits worth about Rs 17 crore made in the name of Mondal and his family members.

While the two cases involve two important politicians in the state, Trinamool, maintained their stand that anyone proven guilty must be punished.

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However, the ruling party in West Bengal also said that media trials could not be justified, and the investigations should be conducted by the agencies, with utmost fairness.

In recent times, many political leaders’ disproportionate assets had been flagged by the parties in the opposition. The Calcutta High Court, recently, made ED a party in a public interest litigation case concerning disproportionate assets of 19 Trinamool leaders.

A fresh PIL was filed in Calcutta High Court, however, also raised questions about income and assets of 17 MPs and MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and other parties that are in the Opposition in the state.