Supreme Court grants ED one week to submit reply on Partha Chatterjee’s bail plea

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) an additional week to respond to the bail plea of Partha Chatterjee, former West Bengal Education Minister, in a money laundering case linked to the alleged cash-for-jobs scam.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju described the matter as a “serious case” and sought a week’s time to file a counter affidavit.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Chatterjee, argued that his client is entitled to bail, having already served one-third of the maximum sentence for the alleged offence, making the issue of merits irrelevant.
In response, the ASG referred to the situation as a cross case.
Chatterjee was arrested in July 2022 for his alleged involvement in the West Bengal teacher recruitment scam and has since been charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Following his arrest, the Mamata Banerjee-led government relieved him of his ministerial duties, and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) removed him from all party posts, including that of Secretary General.