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"On the face of it, you are a corrupt person. Crores of rupees were recovered from your premises," the Supreme Court on Wednesday told former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in an alleged cash-for-job scam in the state.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, which reserved its verdict on the bail plea of Chatterjee, questioned the enforcement directorate (ED) over his continued incarceration saying he could not be kept inside for an indefinite period.
"On the face of it you are a corrupt person. Crores of rupees were recovered from your premises. What message do you want us to send to society? That a corrupt person can get bail like this?" the bench told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mr Chatterjee.
Mr Rohatgi said except for his client all other co-accused persons were granted bail in the case, the latest being a week ago.
"Not everyone was a minister Mr Rohatgi. You were at the top. You can't seek parity with others. Yes, you can question the delay in investigation and role of prosecution but not the merit of the case," the bench told Mr Rohatgi.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for ED said that even if Mr Chatterjee was granted bail in this case, he wouldn't walk out of jail because he faced CBI cases as well.
Mr Rohatgi objected to Mr Raju's statement and said, "This is like he is having great sadistic pleasure. Whatever happens in other cases is my lookout. I have to start somewhere. What kind of argument is he making? I have been inside for 2.5 years."
Justice Kant asked Mr Raju about the time required by the agency to complete the investigation as the court had to balance the rights.
Mr Rohatgi said that money was not recovered from his client but from the premises belonging to a company.
The bench said that Mr Chatterjee had a de-facto control of the company and properties were purchased in the joint name of his and one Arpita Mukherjee.
"After becoming minister, you placed dummy persons. Earlier you controlled yourself. Cases are of 2022. You were a minister, obviously you are not going to order an investigation against yourself. Investigation started only because of judicial intervention. Allegation is that Rs 28 crore was recovered. Of course such a big amount would not have been kept in residence," the bench told Mr Rohatgi.
It said the court needed to examine whether releasing him would have an impact on the investigation and the conditions to be imposed, as he cannot be kept inside indefinitely.
Mr Rohatgi said his client was in his seventies and had collapsed even during court proceedings.
"Some conditions can be imposed like he would not enter the area or he would live somewhere else," the senior lawyer said.
The bench reserved its order after hearing the arguments from both sides.
On November 27, the top court questioned the ED over the low rate of convictions in money laundering cases, wondering for how long the former West Bengal minister could be kept in jail.
The Supreme Court in October issued a notice to the ED on the appeal filed by Mr Chatterjee against an April 30 Calcutta High Court order denying him bail on the ground that a prima facie case was established against him under the PMLA.
Mr Chatterjee was arrested in connection with the alleged irregularities in recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided primary schools.
The politician and his alleged close aide Mr Mukherjee were arrested by the ED in connection with its probe into the money trail in the alleged illegal recruitments.
The ED claimed to have recovered Rs 49.8 crore in cash, apart from jewellery, gold bars from flats owned by Mr Mukherjee, besides documents of properties and a company in joint holdings.
Following his arrest, Mr Chatterjee was relieved of his ministerial duties by the Mamata Banerjee government, while the Trinamool Congress removed him from all party posts, including secretary general.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News Agency staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)