Former Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee secured bail in the SSC IX–X, XI–XII recruitment scam case. He, however, remains in jail as his bail plea in the CBI’s primary teachers’ case is still pending.
Kolkata: Former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee was on Wednesday granted bail by a special CBI court in Alipore in a case connected to alleged corruption in the recruitment of teachers for classes IX–X and XI–XII under the School Service Commission (SSC).
However, despite getting bail in this case, Chatterjee will not be released from jail. He is still behind bars because he is also an accused in another case related to the CBI’s investigation into the recruitment of primary teachers. His bail plea in that matter is still waiting for a decision.
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On Wednesday, Chatterjee, along with several other accused persons, had moved a bail petition before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court. The federal agency strongly opposed the bail plea, saying that each recruitment scam case was separate and had different kinds of evidence and effects.
The CBI further argued that the recruitment scam had caused “serious damage to society” and therefore bail should not be allowed.
In spite of these objections, the Alipore court granted Chatterjee bail on a personal bond of Rs 7,000. Earlier also, he had also received bail in another case linked to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which was investigating the primary teachers’ recruitment scam.
The entire controversy began in 2016, but things escalated on July 22, 2022, when the ED raided Partha Chatterjee’s residence at Naktala in south Kolkata. After an overnight search, the agency arrested him the next day.
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During further raids at flats connected to his close aide Arpita Mukherjee in Tollygunge and Belgharia, investigators found a huge amount of wealth — Rs 49.80 crore in cash, jewellery valued at Rs 5.80 crore, foreign currency, and several property documents.
According to the ED, assets worth at least Rs 60 crore were seized in the case, which included gold, multiple flats, and houses. Arpita Mukherjee was also arrested because of her involvement in these illegal financial dealings linked to the recruitment scam.
Over the following months, Partha Chatterjee’s name came up in multiple cases related to teacher recruitment corruption, such as the Group C, Group D, and primary recruitment scams. In October 2024, the CBI also arrested him in connection with the primary teachers’ recruitment case.
Recently, the CBI submitted its final charge sheet in the SSC recruitment cases for classes IX–X and XI–XII before the Alipore court. Just last Friday, the agency filed another final charge sheet in the Group C recruitment scam. In total, four charge sheets have already been filed in the SSC recruitment scam.
The very first chargesheet was submitted just 51 days after the investigation started in 2022. It named Partha Chatterjee and several other important people, including former SSC advisor Shantiprasad Sinha, ex-SSC chairman Soumitra Sarkar, ad hoc committee chairman Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, and many candidates who were allegedly appointed illegally.
While the latest chargesheet does not include any new accused persons, CBI sources have said that fresh documents and evidence have been attached to make the case even stronger.
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