Synopsis
A special court in Kolkata has allowed Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya, son-in-law of Partha Chatterjee, to be exempt from being an accused in the cash-for-school-job case, contingent on the findings of his confidential statement.Key Takeaways
- Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya has been granted exemption from accusations.
- The court requires a confidential statement to assist the investigation.
- The case involves substantial cash-for-school-jobs allegations.
- Bhattacharya is linked to the Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust.
- Partha Chatterjee remains incarcerated on related charges.
Kolkata, March 20 (NationPress) A special court in the city has granted the request of Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya, the son-in-law of former West Bengal Education Minister and ex-Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee, to be excluded from the list of “accused” in the multi-crore cash-for-school-job scandal in West Bengal.
Bhattacharya expressed his intention to become an “approver” in this case and requested to be exempt from being labeled an “accused”.
The court indicated that his request would be granted, provided his “confidential statement”, submitted before a judicial magistrate, offered new insights that could assist the investigation.
His “confidential statement” was recorded at the Calcutta Metropolitan Magistrate's court earlier this week. Sources familiar with the situation reported that after reviewing the details of this statement, the special court approved his request for exemption from accusation.
Bhattacharya was part of the trustee board of the Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, named after Partha Chatterjee’s late wife.
The primary allegation against the trust is that the cash proceeds from the school-job case were falsely portrayed as donations to the trust, which were then utilized to acquire property in the trust's name.
Legal experts believe that while this development is a relief for Bhattacharya, it could raise concerns for his father-in-law, who has been incarcerated since his arrest by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in July 2022.
Chatterjee and his close associate Arpita Mukherjee were apprehended after substantial amounts of cash and gold were discovered in Mukherjee's residences. They were also accused of creating multiple shell companies to misappropriate funds from the alleged school-job scam.
