Kolkata, May 29 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition by former West Bengal Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose challenging his arrest earlier this month by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the multi-crore municipalities recruitment irregularities case in the state.
Since the Calcutta High Court is having its summer vacation now, Bose’s counsel on Thursday moved the petition before the single-judge vacation bench of Justice Shampa Dutta Paul.
The matter came up for hearing on Friday afternoon, and at the end of the hearing, Justice Dutta Pal ruled the matter should be heard by any regular bench after the summer vacation.
Bose’s counsel on Friday argued that his client was not an accused in the municipalities’ recruitment irregularities case and hence he had challenged his arrest by the ED in this matter.
However, Justice Dutta Pal maintained that since the matter will be heard at a regular bench of the Calcutta High Court after the vacation, no relief to the former minister could be granted at this moment.
She also directed the ED to submit a detailed report on the arrest of Bose and his counsel to submit a detailed affidavit detailing the arguments to the court during the interim period.
A three-time Trinamool Congress legislator from the Bidhannagar Assembly constituency in North 24 Parganas district, Bose was defeated in the recently concluded Assembly elections.
He was arrested by ED officials after a marathon interrogation lasting around 10 hours on the night of May 11, seven days after the Assembly election results were declared on May 4.
He is currently in ED custody.
The main allegation against him is that he recommended ineligible candidates for recruitment to various posts in the South Dum Dum Municipality in North 24 Parganas in exchange for cash.
According to ED investigators, Bose earned hefty amounts by allegedly recommending as many as 150 ineligible candidates.
Before his arrest, ED officials had also conducted raids and search operations at Bose’s offices and residence.
The agency also examined the bank accounts of the former minister and his family members and traced allegedly fictitious transactions.
ED officials also claimed that a restaurant owned by Bose earned crores of rupees during its shutdown period in the Covid-19 lockdown phase in 2020, when operations at the outlet were completely closed.
The ED counsel also informed a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata that, besides Rs 1.1 crore being transferred to the restaurant’s account during the lockdown period, another Rs 2.2 crore was transferred to Bose’s personal account.
–IANS
src/vd