The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in a multi-crore School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam. Chatterjee was arrested in July 2022 and was subsequently removed from the Trinamool Congress and his ministerial post following the revelations in the case.
The bail was granted by a bench of Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh. The court also extended bail to two other accused: Subiresh Bhattacharya and Shantiprasad Sinha, both of whom held senior positions in the state's education bodies when the alleged irregularities occurred.
However, Chatterjee will not be released from jail as he faces separate charges in a primary teachers' recruitment case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had opposed Chatterjee’s bail plea, alleging he was the "mastermind" of the scam. The agency accused him of systematically manipulating the recruitment processes within the West Bengal Central School Service Commission and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. According to the CBI, top appointments to key statutory positions, such as Secretary, President, and Chairman, were made selectively and required Chatterjee’s approval.
The agency also alleged that Dr Sharmila Mitra, then Chairperson of WBSSC, was illegally removed and replaced with Professor Saumitra Sarkar based on a handwritten bio-data.
The CBI expressed concern that Chatterjee still has considerable political influence in the state. It argued that his release may hamper the ongoing probe as he may try to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
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