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Bengal school job case: Calcutta HC denies bail to Partha Chatterjee, four others

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Kolkata, Dec 24: A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Tuesday, denied bail to former West Bengal Education Minister and ex-Trinamool Congress general secretary Partha Chatterjee and four others in the cash-for-school job case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Although the hearing in the matter was concluded on December 17, the single judge bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty reserved its judgement. Earlier on November 20, a division bench of Justice Arijit Bandopadhya and Justice Apruba Sinha Roy delivered a split judgement on the bail petition by Chatterjee and eight other accused in the case.

While Justice Bandopadhya pronounced in favour of bail for Chatterjee and eight other accused in the case, Justice Sinha Roy rejected the same for Chatterjee and four others.

Thereafter the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice allotted the case to the bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty.

While denying the bail petition on Tuesday, Justice Chakraborty observed that although “bail is the rule” and “jail is the exception”, in his particular case the charges are extremely serious.

According to him, the entire school education system gets destabilised if ineligible candidates are given the responsibility of teaching. He also observed that giving school jobs to ineligible candidates against money is also a kind of fraud with those getting jobs honestly after qualifying in the examination.

Justice Chakraborty also questioned why the state government is reluctant to give approval for the beginning of the trial process against the state government employees involved in the alleged scam, which proves that the state government still has connections with the accused.

Two parallel cases are going on against the former state minister, one registered by the CBI and the other by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Chatterjee was arrested in July 2022 by the ED after huge amounts of cash and gold were recovered from the twin residences of his close aide Arpita Mukherjee. Since then, a solitary cell at Presidency Central Correctional Home has become his abode, and his bail petitions one after another have been rejected in different courts. Mukherjee has been in judicial custody since then.

Recently, a division bench of the Supreme Court granted conditional bail to Chatterjee in the ED-registered case. However, recently the CBI also showed him as arrested in the same case following which Chatterjee’s counsel approached the Calcutta High Court with the bail petition.

Maharashtra

Mumbai: 32-Year-Old Woman Dies By Suicide In Santacruz; Partner Takes Body To Parents’ Home

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Mumbai: A 32-year-old woman, identified as Farhana Khan, allegedly died by suicide after hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her residence in the Davri Nagar locality of Vakola, Santacruz East, on Monday afternoon, police said.

According to officials, following the incident, Khan’s live-in partner did not inform the police or seek medical help. Instead, he transported her body to her parents’ home, as reported by news agency PTI. The Vakola police have registered a case and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. Further details are awaited.

In another tragic incident of suicide in the city, a 34-year-old man was found hanging at his residence in Andheri West on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Manish Thombare, who worked with a private company and lived in Sai Baba Society, Gaondevi Dongari.

According to DN Nagar police, the incident occurred between 11:30 pm. on Sunday and 11:30 am on Monday. Thombare lived with his brother and sister-in-law. He had gone to sleep in an upstairs room, and when he failed to come downstairs the next morning, his brother went to check on him and found him hanging from the ceiling fan with a saree.

He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead. His body was later sent to Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle (West) for a post-mortem examination. Preliminary investigations suggest that Thombare was suffering from depression due to family issues. He was married in 2022 but got divorced four months ago. He had no children. An Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered, and further investigation is underway.

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National News

Supreme Court Cancels Bail Of Chhota Rajan In 2001 Mumbai Hotelier Murder Case

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled the bail of mafia don Rajendra S. Nikalje, alias Chhota Rajan, in the 2001 sensational murder of Mumbai hotelier Jaya Shetty.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta allowed the special leave petition (SLP) filed by CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) challenging a Bombay High Court’s order granting bail to Chhota Rajan and suspended his life sentence.

The Justice Nath-led Bench noted the submission of Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, who appeared on CBI’s behalf, that Chhota Rajan stood convicted in four other cases and remained absconding for around 27 years.

After a Special MCOCA Court convicted Rajan and others in the sensational murder case and handed him his second life sentence in nearly nine years, Rajan filed an appeal before the Bombay High Court.

In October last year, a Bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj K. Chavan suspended the sentence pending disposal of the criminal appeal and ordered his release on bail. However, Rajan could not avail the benefit of bail as he is already serving a life sentence in New Delhi’s Tihar Central Jail for the 2011 daylight murder of crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey at Powai.

The Shetty murder case was among the dossier of 71 major offences that were handed over by the CBI to the Indonesian government after Rajan was nabbed in the tourist haven of Bali and subsequently deported to India in November 2015.

Shetty, the owner of the Golden Crown Hotel in south Mumbai, was shot dead by two gunmen on May 4, 2001, with the hit ordered by Rajan, a bitter rival of the absconder terrorist don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, triggering a huge sensation in the hospitality and political circles.

After the long trial, the Special MCOCA Court Special Judge A. M. Patil found Rajan guilty and sentenced him to life in jail, along with the other accused, Rahul Pansare, Ajay Mohite, and Pramod Dhonde.

Shetty had become a victim in an alleged extortion case and had been provided with police security, which was withdrawn a couple of months before he was targeted and killed.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: Red Paint Thrown At Meenatai Thackeray’s Statue At Shivaji Park; Raj Thackeray Visits Site, Uddhav Expected Soon

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Mumbai: Political tensions emerged at Dadar’s Shivaji Park on Wednesday after miscreants threw red paint on bust of Meenatai Thackeray’s- Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray’s wife. The bust is located at the entrance of the park. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) workers reached the spot and removed the paint. The incident took place early morning. By afternoon, Sena UBT workers put garlands on the Meenatai’s bust after cleaning it.

As per locals, there is a security guard always deployed 24/7 at the park and expressed surprise at the incident. MNS Chief Raj Thackeray, who resides in Dadar’s Shivaji Park, went to the site of the desecration after being made aware of the incident and took stock of the situation. As per locals, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will also visit Shivaji Park later in the afternoon.

As per reports, CCTV footage from the area shows a person near the statue around the time of the incident. Investigations are underway to establish the identity of the individual. No formal complaint with the police has been registered so far.

The iconic Shivaji Park ground holds historic importance, socially as well as politically. The park also houses late Balasaheb Thackeray’s memorial next to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue inside the ground.

As per the tradition, the ground will hold Shiv Sena UBT’s Dussehra melave next month.

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