Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday granted bail to former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in the teacher recruitment irregularities case. The bench headed by Justice Subhra Ghosh, hearing the case, directed Chatterjee to surrender his passport and not leave the trial court’s jurisdiction, as per the jail conditions. Partha Chatterjee was granted bail after three years and two months.
Justice Ghosh also directed that the former minister and Trinamool Congress MLA not be appointed to any public office while the trial is pending. Chatterjee was accused of being involved in a racket that illegally appointed ineligible candidates to primary school teachers, assistant school teachers, and other education department positions.
On September 15, Justice Ghosh’s bench concluded the hearing on Chatterjee’s bail plea in the case filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in the state. However, the order was reserved that day, and reports suggest that a single-judge bench will deliver the order on Friday.
After several unsuccessful candidates in the Teacher Eligibility Test conducted by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education approached the Calcutta High Court, the court ordered a CBI investigation into the allegations on June 8, 2022. The CBI filed an FIR the next day, and the ED filed a case against several officials of the state education department on June 24, 2022.
Meanwhile, former minister Partho Chatterjee, who has been in jail since 2022, was hospitalized in January this year after his health deteriorated. Doctors reported that he was shifted from SSKM Hospital here to a private hospital due to breathing problems. Partho Chatterjee was put on oxygen support after showing symptoms of cardiac failure.
