KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Sunday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in connection with the school jobs scam, to AIIMS Bhubaneswar early on Monday by air ambulance.
The court directed that the minister be produced before a special ED court in Kolkata through virtual mode at 4 pm on Monday.
TMC, on the other hand, demanded a time-bound probe in the ED case against Chatterjee, asserting the party will not interfere politically if any leader has done anything wrong.
ED also produced the senior TMC leader's associate Arpita Mukherjee before a court, which remanded her to one-day custody of the agency.
ED personnel raided several locations in the state on July 22 as part of their probe into the money trail involved in a teacher recruitment scam at government-sponsored and aided schools.
Crores of rupees in cash along with other items were allegedly recovered from Mukherjee's residence, sources said. PTI could not independently verify the information.
Chatterjee and Mukherjee were arrested as part of ED's investigation into the scam.
After hearing pleadings in a revision application moved by the ED challenging a lower court order sending Chatterjee to state-run SSKM Hospital after his lawyers claimed he was ill, Justice Chaudhuri directed, "The investigating agency is directed to take the accused by air ambulance to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar in the early morning on 25th July, 2022."
He directed that the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar authority will medically examine the accused by a team of specialist doctors of cardiology, nephrology, respiratory medicines and endocrinology.
ED moved the high court challenging Bankshall Court order which directed that Chatterjee, who complained of uneasiness after his arrested, be admitted to SSKM Hospital.
The central agency also claimed that the lower court can direct adequate treatment of a person but cannot specify a particular facility. The ED moved a revision petition before the high court and sought permission for an urgent hearing during the day.
The lower court on Saturday remanded Chatterjee to two days' ED custody while sending him to the hospital on a prayer by his lawyers that he was unwell and needed medical treatment. Counsels for the ED claimed that Chatterjee, a senior minister in the state, is an influential person and as such should not be kept in a state-run hospital.
Chatterjee's lawyers opposed the prayer and said his treatment was being done appropriately at SSKM hospital. The ED suggested that Chatterjee can be treated at an AIIMS hospital which has a very good healthcare infrastructure.
Meanwhile, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party has no connection with Mukherjee, in whose flat a huge amount of cash was allegedly found. "The party demands time-bound investigation in the case," he said, maintaining that investigations by central agencies in some cases have been going on for many years.
The CBI has been investigating the multi-crore Saradha chit fund case since 2014, while the Narada tapes case, which unfolded ahead of 2016 elections, was also yet to reach any conclusion. "Law will take its own course; the Trinamool Congress will not interfere, however big a leader gets involved in it," Ghosh said.
Mukherjee, who was arrested on Saturday after grilling for several hours at her posh apartment block in south Kolkata, was produced before a court.
Metropolitan Magistrate Namrata Singh, in charge of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court, directed that Mukherjee be produced before the designated ED court on Monday. ED counsels, including Abhijit Bhadra, had prayed for 14 days' custody of Mukherjee.