‘ED wasn’t prompt enough to conclude investigation’: Court rejects plea for custodial interrogation of Bengal minister Chandranath Sinha

The court permitted the ED to interrogate the accused on September 25 and 26 from 11 am to 5 pm only; after which summons has to be issued again

Written by Tanusree Bose

Kolkata | September 24, 2025 05:27 PM IST

3 min read

The ED had launched a probe against Sinha under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and recovered Rs 41 lakh from his Bolpur residence in March 2024. The agency told the court that Sinha could not satisfactorily explain the source of the cash. (Chandranath Sinha X)

In a relief for Trinamool Congress leader and state minister Chandranath Sinha, a special CBI court on Tuesday rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea seeking his custodial interrogation.

The judge, in the order, observed, “In my view, the prosecution has written regarding the importance of custodial interrogation, but what I found is that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was not prompt enough to conclude the investigation.”

The court said that the gap between Sinha’s interrogation in September last year and the filing of the ED’s sixth supplementary chargesheet did not justify custodial interrogation. It added, however, that Sinha “could have at least” submitted some of the documents sought by the agency on time.

Directing the minister to appear before the ED, the court stated: “(The purpose of) unearthing facts doesn’t justify custodial interrogation, however for the interest of investigation, the ED is allowed to interrogate the accused. The accused shall attend the ED office on September 25 and 26 at 11 am. The ED can interrogate him till 5 pm or as they feel needed but not after 5 pm. If further interrogation is required, summons can be issued, and the accused is expected to attend the interrogation.”

The ED had sought seven-day custody of Sinha in the Special ED Court at City Sessions Court on Saturday.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, Sinha said, “I had faith in the judiciary and in the future also, I will have faith in the judiciary. I have never done anything wrong. The court has taken the right decision. I will be following the court’s order and will be going to the ED office tomorrow and day after.”

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Sinha, MLA from Birbhum district’s Bolpur constituency and Minister in charge of micro, small & medium enterprises, textiles and correctional administration, is the second cabinet minister to face prosecution in the alleged education recruitment scam, after former education minister Partha Chatterjee, who was arrested in July 2022.

On August 8, the ED had said in a statement: “ED, Kolkata Zonal Office has filed 6th supplementary prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002… against Chandranath Sinha before the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Kolkata in the matter of the primary teachers’ recruitment scam.”

The investigation into the alleged recruitment scam began in May 2022 after the Calcutta High Court ordered the CBI to probe appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff (Group C and D) by the School Service Commission and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021, when Chatterjee was the education minister. It was alleged that several candidates, despite failing the selection tests, secured jobs by paying bribes ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.

The ED began a parallel probe at the same time.

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