Kolkata: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday sought a detailed report from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the arrest of three-time Trinamool Congress legislator and former West Bengal Fire Services Minister Sujit Bose in the multi-crore municipalities’ job irregularities case in the state.
A petition filed by Bose was moved before the single-judge bench of Justice Jay Sengupta, and the first hearing in the matter was conducted on Monday afternoon.
At the end of the hearing, Justice Sengupta directed the ED to submit a detailed report on the arrest by June 29.
The next hearing in the matter will be held on July 1.
Bose is currently in judicial custody in the case after he was arrested by ED officials last month following a marathon grilling session lasting more than 10 hours.
Earlier, he had approached the vacation bench of Justice Krishna Rao, seeking the quashing of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) filed against him by the ED.
However, Justice Rao rejected the petition and instead asked Bose’s counsel to move a bail plea in the matter.
Accordingly, Bose’s counsel moved a bail petition before Justice Sengupta’s bench. The first hearing on the plea was conducted on Monday afternoon, following which the single-judge bench directed the ED to submit a detailed report in the matter by June 29.
Bose is accused of illegally recommending the names of job recipients in the South Dum Dum Municipality during the investigation into the municipal recruitment corruption case.
According to ED sources, the list contains the names of around 150 job seekers.
The ED has claimed that money earned through the alleged corruption was routed into multiple bank accounts. Therefore, information related to several bank accounts is also under investigation.
Before the arrest, the ED raided Sujit Bose’s residence and office.
Apart from this, central probe agency officials also searched the dhaba that the former West Bengal minister was operating in the state.
(IANS)
