In a notable judicial development, the Calcutta High Court’s two-judge division bench rendered a split verdict concerning the bail requests of former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and four other key figures implicated in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scandal. On Wednesday, while Justice Arijit Banerjee favored granting bail, Justice Apurba Sinha Roy opposed it for Chatterjee and the other officials—Subiresh Bhattacharya, Ashok Saha, Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, and Shanti Prasad Sinha.
The disagreement extends to the accusations faced by the individuals, centering on extensive corruption involving several hundred crores and detrimentally impacting countless school job candidates in West Bengal. This corruption reportedly included mark manipulation, OMR sheet tampering, and the illicit sale of teaching positions.
Despite the split, both justices concurred on releasing five other accused—Kaushik Ghosh, Subrata Samanta Roy (alias Babu), Sk Ali Imam, Sk Shahid Imam, and Chandan Mondal (alias Ranjan)—all charged with facilitating the financial transactions of the scam.
Due to the divided opinions, these complex cases will now move to Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, who is expected to appoint a third bench to resolve the dispute definitively.
Justice Banerjee rationalized his pro-bail decision by citing the prolonged pre-trial detention of the accused and significant trial delays. Conversely, Justice Sinha Roy emphasized the influential status of Chatterjee and the other officials as a key reason for denying bail, highlighting risks related to their potential influence over proceedings.
Furthermore, Justice Sinha Roy issued a directive for the state to finalize the prosecution sanction against the high-profile accused within two weeks. Failure to do so would imply automatic sanction approval, allowing trial proceedings to advance.
Partha Chatterjee was initially detained by the Enforcement Directorate in July 2022, with subsequent arrests by the CBI concerning the same charges. Following his arrest, authorities discovered approximately ₹50 crore in cash, along with gold and foreign currencies, in properties linked to his associate, Arpita Mukherjee, who is also under custody.
