SC questions ED: ‘How long can former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee be kept in jail?’
The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the low rate of convictions in money laundering cases. They also asked the central agency how long they could keep former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in jail.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that Chatterjee, who was arrested due to alleged irregularities in academic staff recruitment in the state, had been incarcerated for more than two years and his trial had not yet begun, reported PTI.
“What will happen if we don’t grant bail? The trial is yet to commence, there are 183 witnesses in the cases. The trial will take time. How long can we keep him? That is the question,” the bench asked the ED’s representative, additional solicitor general S V Raju.
They added, “Here is a case where more than two years have gone. How to strike balance in such case?”
The court also questioned ASG Raju over the low conviction rate of the ED. “If ultimately he is not convicted, what will happen? Waiting for 2.5-3 years is not a small period. What is your conviction rate? Even if the rate is 60-70 per cent, we can understand. But it is very poor,” they said.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Partha Chatterjee, said that his client was arrested on July 23, 2022, and suffers from medical complaints.
He argued that Chatterjee had already gone through over one-third of the maximum punishment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which garnered seven years of jail.
He asked for the court to consider bail for Chatterjee as the trial, which had not even started, would not be over soon due to 183 witnesses and four supplementary prosecution complaints.
ASG Raju opposed this plea stating that it was a serious case involving “rampant corruption” and that Chatterjee could use his influence to tamper with witnesses.
The bench asked Rohatgi to submit details about the custody undergone by Chatterjee in the connected CBI cases and the matter was adjourned to December 2.
Chatterjee was denied bail in October by the Calcutta High Court after which his appeal was taken up by the Supreme Court. He and his aide Mukherjee were arrested by the ED after finding a money trail linked to their allegedly illegal recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal primary schools.