Who will hear Partha's plea? Court delay on bail in job scam

The hearing of Partha Chatterjee’s bail plea in the primary recruitment corruption case has been delayed due to a jurisdictional issue regarding which court will hear the matter. The bail plea was scheduled for today in the courtroom of Judge Partha Mukhopadhyay but could not proceed after Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay, the lawyer representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED), requested that the case not be heard in this court. The reason for this request is that a related case concerning the recruitment scam is already being heard in the courtroom of Judge Subhendu Saha.

Judge Mukhopadhyay decided to first resolve the jurisdiction issue before proceeding with Chatterjee’s bail plea. The court will determine which bench should handle the ED’s investigation into the primary recruitment scam, after which the bail plea will be reconsidered. The next hearing on this matter has been scheduled for November 22, when the court will address the jurisdictional issue.

Chatterjee, the former West Bengal Minister for Industry and Commerce, was arrested by the ED in July in connection with an alleged scam related to the recruitment of primary school teachers in West Bengal. The ED's investigation claims that Chatterjee, along with other officials, misused their positions to facilitate illegal appointments in the state-run schools. The CBI has also filed charges against him in the same case, accusing him of corruption, illegal financial transactions, and influencing appointments for monetary gain.

Since his arrest, Chatterjee has filed multiple bail applications, but all have been rejected. He remains in judicial custody at the Presidency Jail in Kolkata. His arrest was part of a broader crackdown by the ED and CBI into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment process, which has drawn attention due to the scale of the alleged scam. Investigators are looking into various payments and transactions linked to the case, and several other individuals, including education officials and intermediaries, have been arrested in connection with the scam.

The case has become one of the most high-profile corruption investigations in West Bengal in recent years. The recruitment scam allegedly involved significant financial exchanges for securing jobs in primary schools, with some individuals reportedly paying large sums to secure teaching positions. Both the ED and CBI are continuing their investigations, and several other people, including political figures, are under scrutiny in connection with the case.