New Delhi, Aug 18 (UNI) The Supreme Court today granted bail to former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, former Vice Chancellor Dr. Subires Bhattacharyya, and senior education official SP Sinha in the multi-crore cash-for-jobs (teacher recruitment) scam being investigated by the CBI.
A Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice NK Singh allowed their appeals against rejection of bail, observing that the accused have already spent nearly three years in custody while the trial remains stalled due to delays in securing sanction for prosecution.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Siddharth Mridul, appearing for Bhattacharyya, argued that prolonged incarceration without cognisance amounted to a “travesty of justice.” He submitted: “I have been in custody for over three years. No cognisance has been taken because sanction has not been granted.”
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, opposing the bail, described the case as “very serious,” contending that undeserving candidates were appointed as teachers after paying bribes to the accused.
The Bench, however, noted: “We are not punishing somebody. How long inside?” On being informed that the accused had spent over three years in jail despite completion of investigation and filing of charge sheets, the Court said prolonged custody could not continue indefinitely.
In its order, the Court recorded that sanction had been granted against Chatterjee but not yet in the case of Bhattacharyya and Sinha. It directed that charges be framed within four weeks and material witnesses examined within two months thereafter.
The Court clarified that if trial proceedings do not progress, the accused would be entitled to seek further relief.
“It is a good amount of traversing justice… the investigation is over and charge sheets have been filed. We are inclined to allow the appeals and set aside the rejection of bail, subject to conditions and execution of bail bonds,” the Bench observed, granting liberty to the appellants to return in case of difficulties.
On July 17, 2025, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi refused to hear the bail pleas and directed that the matter be placed before a different Bench. Earlier, on May 8, 2025, the Supreme Court had tagged Chatterjee’s bail plea with that of a co-accused and directed the West Bengal Chief Secretary to decide on prosecution sanction within two weeks.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also opposed bail in related money-laundering proceedings, telling the Court on November 27, 2024, that “undeserving candidates were appointed for money.”
At that time, the Bench observed that allegations against Chatterjee and his associates indicated large-scale corruption in teacher recruitment.
Separately, on May 7, 2024, the Supreme Court stayed a Calcutta High Court order quashing the appointment of 23,123 teachers and non-teaching staff recruited through the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST).
The state government had challenged the HC directive requiring beneficiaries of irregular appointments to refund all salaries with 12 percent interest.
The alleged cash-for-jobs scam surfaced in 2022, when the CBI and ED arrested Partha Chatterjee and others, recovering large amounts of unaccounted cash.
In July 2022, a Special Court in Kolkata sent Chatterjee to ED custody, marking the beginning of prolonged legal proceedings.
