School job case: Supreme Court expedites trial against Partha, sets deadline for bail

Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the ED in 2022 following raids at premises linked to his aide, Arpita Mukherjee, who has already been granted bail

- PARMOD KUMAR

The Supreme Court on Friday set a timeline for the framing of charges and recording of the statements by the material witnesses in the trial of former education minister and the Trinamul Congress leader Partha Chatterjee in an alleged money laundering case relating to irregularities in the appointment of teachers and other staff in the state-run schools and granted bail, with release to be effective on or before 1 February 2025.

Directing the framing of the charges before the commencement of the winter vacations and/or before 31 December, whichever is earlier, a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said that thereafter the trial court "shall" fix a date within the second and third week of January 2025 for recording the statements of the prosecution witnesses who are "material or vulnerable" apprehending threat to their lives.