Kolkata 26 August : Partha Chatterjee, currently in the custody of the judicial system in the teacher recruitment scam is reported to have expressed concern about the arrangements of his appearance in the next court hearing in the Special Court of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on August 31.In the meantime, he has told the prison authorities that he would prefer to work with the old physical presence system during the moment of hearing.
On August 23rd, the court endorsed an appeal by the officials of the Presidency Central Correctional Home which is in which Chatterjee is currently housed to allow his presence on the internet during the next hearing scheduled for August 31.The court also confirmed the presence of Chatterjee’s close aide Arpita Mukherjee as per an appeal by the Alipore Women’s Correctional Home authorities.Both prison authorities filed these appeals for security reasons.
Following being made aware of the change in arrangement Partha Chatterjee informed his lawyer that Presidency Central Correctional Home authorities have issued an appeal for his presence online without notifying him.Chatterjee also slammed the security motives cited by the prison authorities, as the counsel informed media personnel.
In the wake of this development, questions were discussed in the political world could be raised as to whether the administrators of the two prison facilities deliberately made the appeals for virtual presence to the court with the aim of blocking Chatterjee and Mukherjee from interfacing with the media personnel on the court premises when they enter and leave.
The times of the virtual presence prayer and the recent explicit statements given by Chatterjee to media representatives in the days of hearings have made an assumption more likely.
When Chatterjee was removed of the court on the date of his final hearing on the 18th of August, he made an indicative statement that everything will be to an end one day or another and no one will be left out.Shortly after the authorities of the two correctional institutions have made a virtual presence appeal before the court.
Chatterjee’s rage about this issue has brought embarrassment for the state government as well as Trinamool Congress leaders, who prefer to keep their distance from the issue.However the CPI-M central committee member Sujan Chakraborty, stated that it was evident that the request was made in order to stop Chatterjee from talking to media.
The lawyer explained the legal options in the case, the senior counsel of the Calcutta High Court, Kaushik Gupta said in the next hearing, which is scheduled for August 31 Chatterjee may tell the judge that he prefers to be with physical presence during hearings rather than a virtual presence.”The court could also request the arguments of prison officials in the case and, after weighing the pros and pros, the court may permit the physical presence of Chatterjee or reject his request,” Gupta said.
src/dpb
