Kolkata, Jan 2 Framing of charge in the multi-crore cash-for-school-job case in West Bengal, registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court here was postponed once again on Thursday as one of the prime accused in the case could not be physically presented at the court because of his hospitalisation.
The process of framing of charge was also postponed at the same court on December 30 since accused Sujay Krishna Bhadra was admitted to a state-run hospital on the previous night as he complained of uneasiness. On December 30 evening, he was not only shifted to a private hospital in south Kolkata but also put on ventilator support.
However, on Wednesday night, he was brought off the ventilation and was shifted to another private multi-speciality hospital adjacent to the Eastern Metropolitan
As per rules, the charge framing process cannot be concluded unless all those named as accused in the case are physically present at the court on the day.
The ED had named a total of 29 individuals and 24 corporate entities and trusts as accused in their charge sheets filed at the special court over a period of time.
Besides Bhadra, the other heavyweight names mentioned in the chargesheet include the former Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee and ruling party legislator and the West Bengal Board of Primary Education's former President Manik Bhattacharya.
Chatterjee’s close aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose twin residences the ED officials recovered a huge amount of cash and gold in July 2022 has also been named in the charge sheet. Another person named in the charge sheet as accused is Chatterjee’s son-in-law Kalyan Moy Bhattacharya. A trust christened Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, named after the deceased wife of Chatterjee is also named in the charge sheet as accused.
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