Overview
- Justice Suvra Ghosh granted bail in the CBI’s primary-teacher recruitment case, ordering Partha Chatterjee to surrender his passport and remain within the trial court’s jurisdiction.
- Conditions bar him from any public office during the case, prohibit contact with witnesses, and require his presence on each hearing date as the Alipore trial proceeds.
- The court noted a remote chance of witness influence, said he no longer holds office to misuse power, and recorded that key evidence is already with the CBI.
- Lawyers say release may not be immediate because the Supreme Court has tied his freedom to the recording of material witness statements, a process expected to conclude after court vacations.
- The CBI has filed final charges and begun trial proceedings; Chatterjee has been in custody since July 23, 2022, in a scandal that saw the 2016 recruitment panel’s 25,752 appointments later annulled by the Supreme Court.