Team News Riveting
Kolkata, July 24
In a major development, the Calcutta High Court today evening asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to move Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee to AIIMS Bhubaneswar in the wee hours of Monday.
Earlier Saturday, ED arrested Chatterjee in connection with the ongoing investigations into alleged irregularities in recruitment of teachers and other staff for government-aided schools after he was grilled for over 24 hours amid search operations across the state. The economic vigilance agency also arrested his close aide Arpita Mukherjee after the probe agency officials seized Rs 21 crore and jewelleries in crore from her premises.
The West Bengal minister was hospitalised in the evening after he complained of uneasiness.
The ED moved the Calcutta High Court on Sunday challenging the lower court order of sending arrested minister to the state-run SSKM hospital. The central agency challenged that the lower court can direct adequate treatment of a person but cannot specify a particular facility.
Justice Bibek Chaudhuri, after hearing arguments by lawyers representing the ED and Chatterjee, reserved judgement in the matter. The court observed that political leaders had managed to avoid ED after taking shelter in the SSKM hospital.
The court directed the ED to move the Bengal Minister to Bhubaneswar. In a directive to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the court urged the hospital authorities deploy a team of specialist doctors of cardiology, nephrology, respiratory medicines and endocrinology for Partha Chatterjee.
The 69-year-old will be taken to Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport by an ambulance, accompanied by his advocate and an SSKM doctor in the wee hours of Monday.
