Kolkata: West Bengal former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide, Arpita Mukherjee were brought to ESI Hospital for medical examination on Wednesday. The Bankshall Court had earlier ordered that their medical check-up should be done after every 48 hours. The duo are in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till August 3, allegedly for their involvement in the SSC recruitment scam.
Sources in the Enforcement Directorate said that Chatterjee will undergo normal tests like sugar, pressure and some other routine tests that AIIMS, Bhuvaneshwar had recommended. "If all the parameters are normal then it is fine but if there is any kind of anomaly we will refer the reports to Bhuvaneshwar and seek their suggestions," a senior ED officer said. Meanwhile Chatterjee's lawyer has claimed that the minister has developed a heartache. The officer also said that though Arpita Mukherjee doesn't have any apparent physical problem but following the court order we are doing all the tests.
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The high voltage drama unfolded after ED made simultaneous raids the minister and his aide's house on July 22 and recovered more than Rs 21 crore and 20 mobile phones from Arpita's house. Chatterjee was arrested by the agency on July 23 after a record-breaking interrogation of 27 hours following which Mukherjee was also detained initially and then arrested.
Chatterjee was produced before the Bankshall court where he was given a custody of two but as the former education minister complained breathlessness and chest-pain he was sent to SSKM hospital for treatment. ED immediately challenged the lower court judgement and went to Calcutta High Court. The Calcutta High Court asked the agency to take Chatterjee to AIIMS Bhuvaneshwar for the check up.
Accordingly Chatterjee was airlifted to AIIMS Bhuwaneshwar in Odisha on July 24 where it was declared that he didn't need an admission and was fit for the custody. The doctors at the premier medical establishment in Bhubaneswar said he was suffering from chronic diseases, but does not need immediate hospitalisation. On July 26 in Kolkata around 6.30 am, and was taken straight to the ED office for questioning at CGO Complex in Salt Lake here in a wheelchair for further questioning in connection with its probe into the school jobs scam in West Bengal.
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After this SSC scam row erupted West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee delinked herself from the corruption case. Ina recently he held function that chief minister had said, "Supporting corruption is neither my hobby nor my profession. Trinamool Congress does not tolerate thieves and robbers. People can make mistakes, but they should be given an opportunity to rectify themselves. I am saddened and shocked by the actions of some political parties".
Mamata even referring to Subhash Chandra Bose's book "Right to Make Blunders', said, "People can make mistakes. There is a saying, Making mistakes is also a right. But if you make a mistake knowingly then it becomes a crime" - making subtle allowances for the mistakes committed by party members.
Reacting to CM's words Partha Chatterjee told the media 'What the party Supremo has said is absolutely correct!" Chatterjee's remarks come a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee has desperately tried to distance herself and the party from the ongoing controversy.
