Recruitment Scam| Only Delay In Progress Of Trial Not Sole Criterion For Enlarging Accused On Bail: Calcutta HC Denies Bail To Ex-Education Minister Partha Chatterjee

The Calcutta High Court has denied bail to former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and others in recruitment scam case.

The Court was deciding Bail Applications preferred by the accused persons in a case in which the Judges of the Division Bench could not reach any consensus as regards the accused. Justice Banerjee had allowed the Bail Applications but Justice Sinha Ray rejected the same.

A Single Bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty observed, “The gravity of the offence, the nature of accusation and evidence therefor, the reasonable apprehension of the witnesses being influenced, balance between the rights of the accused and the larger interest of the society, the period of detention are all factors inextricably bound and only upon a composite consideration of the said parameters, the Court may or may not exercise discretion in favour of the accused. The conditions need to be considered together and not in isolation and a particular rider cannot be taken up and highlighted. Only delay in progress of trial may not be the sole criterion for enlarging the accused persons on bail since it cannot be said how long a period of detention is too long in a system where justice is supposed to be swift but deliberate more so when the subject matter is a scam of extraordinary dimension involving exchange of monetary considerations for giving appointments.”

The Bench remarked that the menace of corruption has accorded the undeserved with an unfair advantage over the deserved and deepened the societal chasm between haves and have-nots.

Senior Advocates Shekhar Basu, Sandipan Ganguly, and Milon Mukherjee represented the Petitioners while DSGI Dhiraj Trivedi and Special PP Amajit De represented the Respondents.

Brief Facts -

The West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC) conducted selection for recruitment to the posts of Assistant Teachers for Classes IX and X, Classes XI and XII and non-teaching staff of Group ‘C’ and Group ‘D’ category. A batch of Writ Petitions was instituted before the High Court challenging the selection process in 2016. The Single Bench directed Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct an enquiry to identify the miscreants who issued letters of recommendation in order to secure appointments of undeserving candidates. Pursuantly, a case under Sections 120-B and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) was registered.

The Petitioners namely, Dr. Subires Bhattacharya, the Chairman of WBCSSC, Ashok Kumar Saha, the Secretary of WBCSSC, Dr. Kalyanmoy Ganguly, the President of WBBSE, Dr. Santi Prasad Sinha, the Secretary of WBBSE and Dr. Partha Chatterjee, the Minister in-charge of Higher Education and School Education Department, Government of West Bengal were arrested. All the Petitioners were arraigned in connection with what has come to be known as the School Service Commission Scam. The searches conducted led to seizure of huge cash and gold jewellery and the Petitioners were in custody for more than two years.

The High Court in view of the above facts, noted, “Parity cannot be the sole ground for granting bail even at the stage when the bail application of a co-accused is allowed. The Court has to satisfy itself that, on consideration of more materials placed, further developments in the investigations and other different considerations, there are sufficient grounds for releasing the applicant on bail. In deciding the aspect of parity, the role attached to the accused persons, their position in relation to the incident and to the victims is of utmost importance. Court cannot proceed on the basis of parity on a simplistic assessment, which again cannot pass muster under the law. Records would reveal that Dr. Kalyanmoy Ganguly was granted bail in RC Case No. 05A on 29.11.2023, i.e., about a year after papers were forwarded by CBI to the Chief Secretary of the State seeking sanction.”

The Court added that the offences involving economic crime and corruption fall in a different category and their gravity cannot be measured only from the perspective of sentence prescribed in law. It said that a crime of this nature would definitely fall in the category of offences which travel far ahead of personal or private wrong and hence, the Court cannot be a silent or a mute spectator and yield to the ingenuous dexterity of the accused persons to adroit moves.

“In the present case, State has withheld the decision as regards sanction and on the rudiments of the latter observation, it may not be urged in the facts and circumstances of the case, that the delay would be attributable to CBI for having not approached the writ Court more so when the Hon’ble Division Bench was in seisin of the said issue”, it further noted.

The Court emphasised that, it is the obligation of the State to act in a fair and impartial manner and to extend all cooperation so that the truth unfolds. It, therefore, was in complete agreement with the Judgment and Order of Justice Sinha Ray.

Accordingly, the High Court denied bail to the accused persons.

Cause Title- Dr. Subires Bhattacharya @ Subiresh Bhattacharjee v. The Central Bureau of Investigation

Appearance:

Petitioners: Senior Advocates Shekhar Basu, Sandipan Ganguly, Milon Mukherjee, Advocates Manaswita Mukherjee, Rajat Sinha Roy, Surajit Basu, Ayan Poddar, Soham Dutta, M. Mukherjee, Biswajit Manna, and Subhadeep Ghosh.

Respondents: DSGI Dhiraj Trivedi, Special PP Amajit De, and Advocate Arijit Majumdar.

Click here to read/download the Judgment