West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, the key accused in the SSC recruitment scam, was granted bail on Tuesday, more than three years after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 23, 2022.
Chatterjee, who has been hospitalized for the past 203 days at a private facility in southeast Kolkata’s Mukundapur, was released from judicial custody after furnishing bail, PTI reported.
His release followed the examination of witnesses in a trial court on Monday in related cases being investigated by the CBI.
He was earlier granted bail in ED cases, while the Supreme Court subsequently granted him bail in related CBI cases with the condition that he would not be released until the agency completed the examination of witnesses.
As the former Trinamool Congress general secretary boarded his car and headed to his Naktala residence in south Kolkata, Chatterjee’s supporters gathered in large numbers outside the hospital, shouting slogans of “Partha da zindabad” amid an emotionally charged atmosphere.
(With input from agencies)
