The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday reserved its judgement on the bail application of Kuntal Ghosh, a former youth leader of the Trinamool Congress and an accused in the 2014 teacher recruitment scam. Justice Suvra Ghosh concluded the hearing after listening to the arguments from both Ghosh’s legal team and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Kuntal Ghosh was arrested by the ED in January 2023 as part of the investigation into financial irregularities linked to the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) conducted in 2014. The case has since expanded, touching high-profile figures including the former West Bengal Education Minister, Partha Chatterjee, among others.
During the hearing, Ghosh’s lawyers argued for his release on bail, highlighting that he has been in custody for nearly two years without the commencement of the trial. They stressed the prolonged pre-trial detention and the uncertainty over when the trial would actually begin as grounds for granting bail.
Opposing the bail, ED counsel Phiroze Edulji presented Ghosh as a key figure in the scam, suggesting that his release could compromise the integrity of the ongoing investigation. Edulji underscored the severity of the allegations and Ghosh’s alleged role as one of the masterminds behind the scam.
The high-profile nature of the case, involving alleged corruption in teacher recruitment, has drawn significant public and media attention, reflecting broader concerns over corruption in public sector job allocations.
