WBSSC Scam: Kolkata court sends Partha Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee to judicial custody till August 18

A Kolkata Court on Friday sent former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee to judicial custody till August 18 in connection with the School Service Commission appointments scam.

Abhijit Bhadra, lawyer representing ED had pleaded for judicial custody along with interrogation from the court while Chatterjee’s lawyer Krishna Chandra Das asked for bail for his client.

“We demanded JC for both of them as Chatterjee didn’t cooperate with the interrogation. We need to interrogate him more, it is just the beginning,” said ED’s lawyer.

“My client is even ready to resign from his MLA post. Nothing has been found from Chatterjee’s procession. No one has ever seen him taking bribes. If he is given bail he will also cooperate with the investigation,” said Chatterjee’s lawyer.

According to ED sources, the ED lawyer also informed the court that several bank accounts have been found in both Chatterjee and Arpita’s names and also a few more fake companies and a trust where of both Chatterjee and his close aide are members have surfaced.

“My client refused to sign any documents as they were not true. Why will Chatterjee sign manufactured documents? Whether those documents are real or not is yet to be ascertained,” further mentioned Chatterjee’s lawyer.

At the time of reporting both Chatterjee and Arpita were being taken to Presidency Jail in a prison van with extra security.

Meanwhile, Arpita’s lawyer Niladri Bhattacharya didn’t apply for his client’s bail and said that there is ‘life threat’ for her, following which he had requested that food given to Arpita should be tested.

Earlier this day, ED sources said that during face-to-face interrogation Chatterjee refused to recognize Arpita and said he must have met him during his Naktala’s Durga Puja.

“Many people used to come to meet me during During Puja and Arpita came during puja. Asked about the money recovered from Arpita’s flat to which Chatterjee said that he has heard about the incident but has no clue whose money it is,” mentioned the ED sources.

ED sources also said that Chatterjee’s daughter Sohini Bhattacharya and her husband Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya are under the scanner.

Sohini and Kalyanmoy currently reside in the US and agency officials have sent an email to them, asking them to reach Kolkata at the earliest for questioning.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said that Chatterjee should be kept in a common cell like a common prisoner.

“When I was jailed, despite being innocent, Chatterjee said that I am out of my mind. I was also kept in a common cell and it should be applied for him too. I was the victim of a conspiracy,” said Ghosh.

Published on: Friday, August 05, 2022, 08:24 PM IST