Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Monday reportedly directed that former West Bengal Education minister Partha Chatterjee be released on bail in the alleged cash-for-jobs scam once statements of material witnesses are recorded by the trial court.
A Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and NK Singh said the testimonies must be completed within two months.
The court observed that Chatterjee had been in custody for almost three years and his prolonged incarceration
without conclusion of trial would amount to a travesty of justice.
The Bench simultaneously granted bail to Subiresh Bhattacharya, former chairman of the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBSSC), and Shantiprasad Sinha, former advisor to the Commission.
Both held official positions during the period in which the alleged irregularities occurred.
The top court further directed that charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) be framed against public servants within four weeks, provided sanction has been accorded by the competent authority.
In cases where sanction has not been granted, the trial courts were asked to frame charges only under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The case concerns alleged large-scale irregularities in recruitment to teaching and non-teaching posts in state-run and aided schools when Chatterjee was the state’s education minister.
He was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2022. At the time of arrest, he was also handling other portfolios in the West Bengal Cabinet.
He was subsequently removed from ministerial responsibilities and suspended from the Trinamool Congress.