KOLKATA: A session court in Kolkata on Friday sent West Bengal former minister Partha Chatterjee and his close assistant Arpita Mukherjee to judicial custody till August 18 in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court ordered judicial custody for both. According to the sources, the advocate of Arpita did not plead for her bail as they believed that her life is in danger. He urged the judiciary that she should not be kept with more than four prisoners. The ED also favoured judicial custody of Arpita.
Arpita Mukherjee’s advocate said, “There’s a threat to her life. We want a division-1 prisoner category for her. Her food and water need to be tested first and then should be given. The ED advocate also supported that there’s a threat to her security as more than 4 prisoners can’t be kept.”
Meanwhile, Partha Chatterjee’s advocate said, “No one has come out and said that he had asked for a bribe, neither in the CBI case nor in ED. Can they show any witness that he has asked for a bribe? Partha Chatterjee is not connected with the crime and CBI charged allegation is not appropriate”.
“In ED Case on 22 July, when his house was raided nothing has been recovered. If you try to ask a man who is not involved in the crime, he will obviously be non-cooperative,” he added. (ANI)