Arpita Mukherjee in Enforcement Directorate custody till August 3

Lawyers of the accused do not oppose remand prayer but requests for a ‘short term’

Arpita Mukherjee outside the city sessions court on Monday. :  Pradip Sanyal

TT SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT |  26.07.22 : Arpita Mukherjee, whose name had emerged while searching documents in former education minister Partha Chatterjee’s Naktala home leading to the seizure of more than Rs 21 crore cash from her flat in a housing complex near Tollygunge on Friday, was produced before a court on Monday with a prayer for Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand for another 13 days.

The court sent Arpita to 10-day ED remand. She will be in custody till August 3.

Her lawyers did not oppose the remand prayer but requested for a “short term”, citing the lack of progress in the probe in the past 24 hours.

“There has been no development in the probe since my client’s arrest. At least there is no tangible addition in the case diary. Then why do they need the long custody?” Arpita’s defence lawyer, Soham Bandopadhyay, told the court.

The prosecution lawyer said a 13-day remand was necessary so that the central agency could make minister Partha Chatterjee and Arpita sit face-to-face for interrogation. “The source of the cash and the jewellery found in her house needs to be investigated,” the prosecution lawyer submitted.

The prosecution lawyer added that two days were spent only to calculate the cash found in her possession. 

Arpita, who was arrested on Saturday was sent for a day’s remand on Sunday and was again produced in the court on Monday.

Along with more than Rs 21 crore, at least 12 property deeds in her name and two deeds in name of companies jointly owned by Arpita and a brother-in-law were seized from Partha’s Naktala home on Friday, that led to the arrest of both Chatterjee and Arpita.

Several foreign currency notes were also allegedly found in Arpita’s flat in a housing complex near Tollygunge, prompting the ED to contemplate a case under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Arpita’s defence lawyers alleged their client did not get medical attendance after she had met with an accident on Sunday evening while she was being accompanied by ED officers to the CGO complex after her production in court.