The Supreme Court sets a deadline for bail to a West Bengal MLA involved in money laundering after examination of witnesses on 01.02.2025.
The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has observed that the Appellant’s prayer for bail must also be juxtaposed against the apprehension of threat to life expressed by the associate in her statement. Having said so, the question of the evidentiary value of the statement recorded under Section 50 of the PMLA has not been addressed at this stage so that no prejudice is caused to parties.
The Appellant has been a Member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly since 2001, and was a member of the ruling party of the State at the relevant time. He was inducted as a Minister in the West Bengal State cabinet between 2011 and 2022 and seems to have held the post of the State Education Minister since 2016.
During his tenure as the State Education Minister, recruitments to various posts like Primary School Teachers; Assistant School Teachers; Group C staff; and Group D staff, took place from time to time.
Writ petitions were filed before the High Court of Calcutta (High Court), questioning the legitimacy of the procedures followed in the aforementioned recruitments. Most pertinently, proceedings were initiated by unsuccessful candidates in the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) conducted by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, alleging corrupt practices in the recruitment process of Primary School Teachers. In the light of serious allegations having been made, the High Court on 08.06.2022 directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and also to register a case in this regard.
The ED conducted a raid at the premises of the Appellant and recorded his statement under Section 17 of the PMLA. During the said search, incriminating documents pertaining to twelve immoveable properties in the name of the Appellant’s close associate; and documents showcasing the appointment of Group D staff such as admit cards of candidates, intimation letters for verification of testimonials and personality test, application forms etc. are claimed to have been recovered. The searches conducted at the residential premises of the Appellant’s close aide further led to the seizure of cash amounting to Rs. 21.90 crores and gold jewellery amounting to Rs. 76,97,100.
Based on the interrogation of the alleged close associate and scrutiny of the documents already seized, further search was conducted, whereby cash amounting to Rs. 27.90 crores and gold amounting to Rs. 4.31 crores were seized from the premises connected to companies that de facto were stated to belong to the Appellant, where he had allegedly appointed dummy directors. A deeper probe revealed that these companies had been used to acquire, possess, conceal, appropriate, project and claim large- scale proceeds of crime.
Supreme Court’s Directions
The supreme court issued various directions.
Firstly, since the charge sheet in the ED Case has already been filed but charges are yet to be framed, we direct the Trial Court to decide on framing of charges before the commencement of the winter vacations and/or before 31.12.2024, whichever is earlier.
Secondly, the Trial Court shall thereafter fix a date within the second and third week of January 2025 for recording the statements of such prosecution witnesses who are the most material or vulnerable. All such witnesses, especially those who have expressed apprehension of danger to their lives (who might be two or three), will be examined on these dates.
Thirdly, the Appellant and his counsel are directed to extend full cooperation to the Trial Court for the recording of statements of these witnesses.
Fourthly, the witnesses will be examined without prejudice to the Appellant’s right to challenge the decision on framing of charges if the decision is adverse and if he is so aggrieved. However, upon such challenge, no stay on trial shall be granted. In the event the examination of these witnesses is not completed on the dates fixed due to unforeseen circumstances, the Trial Court may do so lastly in the third and fourth week of January, 2025.
Fifthly, the Petitioner shall thereafter be released on bail on 01.02.2025, subject to his furnishing bail bonds to the satisfaction of the Trial Court. In the event that the Trial Court is able to complete the directions at an earlier date, then the Appellant may be released on bail immediately thereafter and prior to the given date of 01.02.2025.
Case Details
Case Title: Partha Chatterjee Versus Directorate of Enforcement
Case No.: Criminal Appeal No. 5266 Of 2024
Date: 13.12.2024
