Kuntal Ghosh granted bail by Supreme Court in primary recruitment scam case

Kuntal Ghosh, the former Trinamool Congress youth leader, has been granted bail by the Supreme Court of India in the primary recruitment corruption case. Ghosh, who was arrested in 2022 as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary school teachers, had previously secured bail in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case. The Supreme Court's decision to grant bail now pertains to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case, in which he had been detained for several months.

The bail hearing took place on Friday before Justices Suryakant and Ujjal Bhuiyan. Ghosh's legal team argued that the investigation was still ongoing and there was no clear timeline for its completion. They further argued that the prolonged detention without the start of the trial warranted bail. In response, the Supreme Court granted him conditional bail. The trial court has been instructed to determine the specific conditions of his release.

As part of the conditions for his bail, Ghosh is prohibited from leaving West Bengal without the permission of the investigating authorities. This condition mirrors the one imposed on him in the ED case. The conditions ensure that Ghosh will remain available for further investigation and trial proceedings. The court has left the final determination of the conditions to the trial court.

The recruitment corruption case centers around the alleged involvement of several individuals in a scam related to the recruitment of primary school teachers in West Bengal. This case has already led to the arrests of multiple individuals, including former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and his close associates. Arpita Mukherjee, another individual arrested in connection with the case, was granted bail earlier. Investigations by the ED and CBI are ongoing, and several individuals implicated in the case have been granted bail.