Enforcement Directorate (ED) was granted 10-day custody of West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee and his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee, both of whom were arrested in connection with its probe into the school jobs scam. The ED had prayed before a court for 14 days’ custody of Chatterjee, stating that AIIMS, Bhubaneswar has said in a report after medical examination of the minister that no active intervention is required over his health.
Rejecting a bail prayer of the minister, special ED Court judge Jibon Kumar Sadhu extended ED custody of the minister and also of Mukherjee till August 3. The court directed in its order that the two accused persons, who were arrested on July 23, be produced before it again on August 3. Chatterjee was produced before the court on Saturday and remanded to two-day ED custody, while Mukherjee was produced before the court on Sunday and remanded to one-day custody.
At the same time, the opposition BJP and CPI(M) in West Bengal on Friday claimed that the TMC was trying to distance itself from Chatterjee, after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would not spare anyone if found guilty.
Leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP said no one would believe that the TMC’s top leadership was unaware of the scam, which allegedly happened when Chatterjee was the education minister.
“Such comments are laughable. The investigating agencies must investigate the money trail. The TMC top brass is now trying to distance itself from Partha Chatterjee as if he is solely responsible for everything. The TMC is trying to make him a scapegoat,” Adhikari said.
“What is stopping the state government from sacking Partha Chatterjee as a cabinet minister? This proves that the TMC supports corruption,” he added.
CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim termed it an old trick of the TMC to distance itself from leaders caught in corruption cases. “When TMC leaders were arrested in Saradha and Rose Valley scams, the party tried to wash off its hands. Why blame a few leaders when the entire party is structurally corrupt,” he alleged.
