Special Court extends ED custody of Partha Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee till August 5

A special court on Wednesday granted two days custody of West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and his associate Arpita Mukherjee, to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till August 5 in the money laundering case registered against them in the school jobs scam. .The special court designated to hear cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) also refused to grant bail to the duo stating that the allegations against them are "serious in nature as huge amount of money is involved."The special court noted that during the raids conducted by the ED in Mukherjee's house, several incriminating documents relating to immovable properties and appointment of staff were recovered and seized."During the custody period of ED huge quantity of money, gold ornaments and property has been detected, recovered and seized. Form the materials available on Case Diary it appears that accused persons are involved in the commission of offence as alleged. It's a case under sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA, which is a case of serious nature. Investigation process has just initiated and is in progress. Thus, considering the initial stage of investigation and the nature & gravity of offence prayer for bail of the accused petitioners is rejected," the Court said in its order.Chatterjee has been accused of illegally giving jobs for the post of assistant teachers and primary teachers and generating huge sums of money. He has been charged under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)..Advocate for Chatterjee submitted that he is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the case. He also submitted that no recovery has been made from the possession of the accused-petitioner and further detention of the accused will not serve any purpose.It was also contended that the accused is an aged person and nothing was seized from him and he is also not named in the FIR.Arguing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju informed the court that during the raids, a huge and an unprecedented cash amount of ₹27.90 crores, was seized from the premises owned by Mukherjee, the close associate of Chatterjee. He also submitted that a company closely linked with the family members of Chatterjee is registered in the premises of Mukherjee.The ASG further highlighted the fact that gold worth ₹4.31 crores was also seized from her house apart from gold in the form of bullion, heavy kangana (bangles) weighing 500 grams each, a gold pen and some jewellery and a number of other incriminating documents which indicated large scale money laundering by the accused persons..Further, the ASG claimed that the cash amount to the tune of ₹21.90 crores, which was recovered, is nothing but proceeds of crime generated in relation to the criminal activities for giving illegal appointments to Assistant Teachers for Class IX to XIl as well as Primary Teachers in lieu of money.ASG SV Raju and advocate Pheroze Edulji represented the ED.Chatterjee and Mukherjee have been in ED custody since July 25 for their roles in the scam.