Judicial remand of Partha Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee extended by another 14 days

Kolkata, Aug 18

A special court of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday extended the judicial custody of Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee, both tainted in the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) scam, by another 14 days.

Surprisingly, although Partha Chatterjee's counsel moved a bail plea on behalf of his client, a similar approach was not evident of Arpita Mukherjee's counsel.

Chatterjee's counsel moved the bail plea on his client's health grounds. However, ED's counsel objected to the plea claiming that despite having some chronic illness, Partha Chatterjee's condition is not that critical that he will have to be granted bail. Finally, after hearing all parties, the court rejected the bail plea and ordered the extension of judicial custody for both by another 14 days.

The court also approved the ED counsel's plea that the central agency officials be allowed to interrogate Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee in the prisons.

The ED counsel furnished fresh documents relating to the financial involvement between Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee. They even furnished a document that showed that the premium for a life insurance policy held by Mukherjee with Chatterjee as a nominee, was paid from a bank account held by Chatterjee.

On Thursday afternoon while Chatterjee was brought to the court, Partha Chatterjee told media persons that everything will come clear some day or the other. "None will be spared," he added.

His comments fuelled speculations on whether Chatterjee is going in a rebel mode against Trinamool Congress understanding that the party leadership including West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, is shrugging off all responsibilities from him, while at the same time backing the party's Birbhum district president, Anubrata Mandal, tainted in the multi-crore cattle smuggling scam.

State correctional department sources said that since Chatterjee learnt from his counsels that Mamata Banerjee has backed Mondal at a public meeting on August 14 without taking Chatterjee's name even once, the former minister and party secretary general had been very inquisitive about the day-to-day political developments in the state. He is enquiring from the prison officials about the development on this count on a daily basis, a state prison department official said.

While Trinamool Congress leaders refused to react to Partha Chatterjee's comments, the BJP state president in West Bengal and party MP, Sukanta Majumdar told media persons that it is high time that Chatterjee would open his mouth and name the other beneficiaries in the scam. "Let him name them and the central agencies will act accordingly," he said.