SSC Recruitment Scam: No Bail For Partha Chattopadhyay After Calcutta HC Judges Split Over Decision

Kolkata: Division bench of Justice Apurva Sinha Roy and Justice Arijit Bandhopadhyay of Calcutta High Court have reached a split over granting bail to former state education minister Partha Chattopadhyay and five others in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.

While Justice Arijit Bandhopadhyay granted bail to Chattopadhyay and eight others in the case, Justice Apurva Sinha Roy rejected bail plea of Chattopadhyay and four others in the case.

The case now went back to the division bench of Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court T.S. Sivagnanam, who will now have to form a three-judge bench.

Notably, even if a three-judge bench grants bail to the former West Bengal Education Minister, he cannot be released immediately as the case registered by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the same scam is pending before the Supreme Court.

However, those whose bail was granted by both Justice Bandhopadhyay and Justice Sinha Roy will be released.

It is pertinent to mention that Chatterjee was arrested in July 2022 by the officials of ED after huge cash and gold were recovered from the residences of his close aide Arpita Mukherjee.

Ever since then both CBI and ED are running parallel cases against Chattopadhyay. Soon after his arrest the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) removed Chattopadhyay from all his post both in administration and party’s organization.