A PMLA court on Wednesday extended the ED custody of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee by two days till August 5 in connection with the SSC teacher recruitment scam, ANI reported. They were produced before the court after their 10-day ED custody came to an end.
The ED told the court that Chatterjee was not cooperating in the investigation, while Mukherjee was comparatively cooperative.
The ED had sought four days' custody of the former state education minister before the court. The probe agency had also sought three days' custody of Arpita Mukherjee, an actor from whose residences the ED recovered Rs 50 crore in cash, besides jewellery and other valuables.
Partha Chatterjee's lawyer prayed for his bail, while Mukherjee's counsel submitted that there was no requirement for any further ED custody of his client.
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Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the the probe agency, submitted that several companies and properties in the joint holding of Chatterjee and Mukherjee were unearthed, and they need to be questioned on these.
Partha Chatterjee, who was sacked as minister and suspended from TMC last week, and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were arrested by the ED on July 23.
Arpita Mukherjee has told the ED that the crores of rupees recovered by the agency was slipped into her residences without her knowledge. Earlier, Chatterjee had said that he was a "victim of a conspiracy" and expressed displeasure over the TMC's decision to suspend him.
The veteran TMC leader had also said that only time would tell if the action against him was justified. Both Chatterjee and Mukherjee have said that the money recovered did not belong to them.