Former West Bengal minister Sujit Bose has moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in the municipal recruitment corruption case after the Calcutta High Court rejected his plea, but the matter will not be heard before Durga Puja.
Bose has challenged the High Court’s order and sought an early hearing in the Supreme Court. According to Anandabazar – West Bengal, the case is expected to be taken up after the Supreme Court reopens following the festival break.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Bose in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in recruitment by municipalities. He was arrested on 11 May. The agency’s case includes an allegation that names were unlawfully recommended for jobs in the South Dum Dum Municipality.
The Calcutta High Court rejected Bose’s bail application on 13 October. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh said bail could not be granted at the current stage of the investigation. The bail plea had earlier been heard by Justice Shubhra Ghosh, who reserved the order after the hearing on 17 August. Following her recusal from the case, the matter was placed before Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, who dismissed the application.
The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that the list of allegedly illegal appointments in South Dum Dum Municipality contained the names of approximately 150 job applicants. The agency also suspects that money allegedly generated through the recruitment irregularities was transferred to a bank account linked to the former minister.
These are allegations made as part of the investigation and have not been established as a final finding by a court. Bose’s legal position is that his continued detention is unjustified. During an earlier hearing, his counsel, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued that the investigation into the municipal recruitment case had been completed and that keeping Bose in custody thereafter was unethical. Singhvi also argued that the Enforcement Directorate could not justify the arrest.
The case places the focus on the administrative systems through which municipal recruitment recommendations were made and examined. The allegations concern a local government body, but the legal proceedings involve a former state minister and a central investigating agency. The next significant procedural development will be the Supreme Court’s decision on when to list and hear Bose’s bail plea after the Puja vacation.
