Decks Cleared for Partha Chatterjee’s Release on Bail

MP, 11 Nov 2025, Kolkata: The path for the release of former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee was cleared on Monday after the examination of eight witnesses in connection with the school recruitment irregularities case concluded. On August 18, the Supreme Court granted bail to Chatterjee, who has been in jail since 2022, in the case investigated by the CBI, but said he would be released only after the trial court records statements of material witnesses.

With the examination of eight persons in the case completed, his lawyers prayed before the special court on Monday, seeking an order for Chatterjee’s release on bail.

His lawyer said that after the court passes the bail bond order, he will be released. Following the execution of the bail bond to be directed by the trial court, the release order for Chatterjee, who is presently admitted to a hospital, is likely to take place.

The CBI case against Chatterjee and some other senior officials pertains to irregularities in the recruitment of teachers for classes between 9 and 12, and Group C employees in West Bengal government-run and -aided schools.

The Supreme Court had, in its order, noted that Chatterjee spent around three years in custody and his continued incarceration would be a “travesty of justice”.

The top court directed that the charges should be framed within four weeks under the Prevention of Corruption Act against public servants, with the statements being recorded within two months.

Apart from Chatterjee, the other accused persons in the case include former West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) chairman Subires Bhattacharya and former chairman of SSC’s advisory committee S P Sinha. The former minister, arrested in July 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and thereafter by the CBI in October 2024, has already been granted bail in the other cases filed against him by the central investigating agencies.