Cash For Jobs Scam: SC Grants Bail to Ex-West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee, Co-Accused
The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee, Dr. Subires Bhattacharyya and SP Sinha in the multi-crore cash-for-jobs (teacher recruitment) scam investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice N.K. Singh allowed their Appeals against rejection of bail, noting that both have been incarcerated for nearly three years while trial proceedings remain stalled due to delay in grant of sanction for prosecution.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Mridul, appearing for Bhattacharyya, argued that the prolonged custody without cognisance amounted to travesty of justice. He submitted, “I have been in custody for over three years. No cognisance has been taken because sanction has not been granted.”
Opposing the bail pleas, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, for the CBI, described the case as “very serious,” contending that undeserving persons were appointed as teachers after paying bribes to the Minister and other accused.
The Bench, however, observed: “We are not punishing somebody. How long inside?” When informed that the accused had already spent over three years in jail, the Court took note of the prolonged incarceration and the fact that investigation was complete and charge sheets had been filed.
In its order, the Court recorded that sanction had been granted against Chatterjee but not in the case of Bhattacharyya and Sinha. It directed that charges be framed within four weeks and material witnesses examined within two months thereafter.
The Court made it clear that failure to proceed with trial would entitle the accused to approach the Court again. “In the event sanction is not forthcoming, we are considering to pass similar orders as passed earlier… It is a good amount of traversing justice, the investigation is over and has been laid. We are inclined to allow the appeals and set aside the order, subject to conditions and execution of bail bonds,” the Bench said.
Granting liberty to the appellants to return in case of difficulties, the Court underscored that undue delay in prosecution cannot justify indefinite incarceration.
Notably, on July 17, the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had refused to hear the bail pleas and had directed that the matter be placed before a different Bench, not comprising of Justice Bagchi.
It is to be noted that on May 8, the Supreme Court had tagged the bail plea of former West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee, accused in the cash-for-jobs scam, with a pending matter filed by a co-accused, and directed the Chief Secretary of West Bengal to take a decision on prosecution sanction within two weeks.
In a related news, on November 27, 2024 the Enforcement Directorate had told the Supreme Court that 'undeserving candidates were appointed for money' during the hearing of the bail plea of former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in a money laundering case. The Bench had observed that, "The allegation is that the petitioner was the Education Minister in the government of West Bengal, and there were allegations of large-scale scams in the recruitment of assistant primary teachers for extreme considerations. The allegation is that the petitioner and his associates Arpita Mukherjee and Manik Bhattacharya, were actively involved."
As the Bench went on to inquire about the current status of custody it asked, "Are you in judicial custody or CBI custody? We want to segregate the period of judicial custody and police custody in ED and CBI? We will take up the matter on Monday. Just get a copy of when you were arrested by CBI for the first time.
Notably, on 7 May, the Supreme Court had stayed the Calcutta High Court's April 22, 2024 judgement quashing the appointment of 23,123 teaching and non-teaching staff in the state made through the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST).
The West Bengal government had filed a plea in the Supreme Court questioning the correctness of the Calcutta High Court's order. It also challenged the direction to the candidates who submitted blank OMR sheets but obtained appointments, to return all remunerations and benefits received by them to the State exchequer along with interest calculated at 12 % per annum, from the date of receipt thereof till deposit, within a period of four weeks. The petitioner had sought an interim stay on the operation of the HC's judgment in the matter.
In what is called as cash-for-job scam, the CBI had arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and other bigwigs and recovered huge caches of cash during the investigation.
On July 2022, A Special Court in Kolkata sent West Bengal Minister and TMC leader Partha Chatterjee to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till August 3 in the alleged teachers' recruitment scam during his tenure as the State Education Minister.
Case Title: Partha Chatterjee v. CBI and connected matters
Hearing Date: August 18, 2025
Bench: Justice MM Sundresh and Justice NK Singh