The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to suspended Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last year in the money-for-jobs scam case.

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan observed that considering the nature of the allegations and the nature of evidence to be collected, the investigation in the case may take some time.

Although an indictment was filed in January 2024, the Special Court did not take cognizance of it as no documents were attached. Moreover, the CBI proposed to file supplementary charges.

Observing that it was premature to foresee the conclusion of the trial in the near future, the apex court said that the detention of the petitioner in custody indefinitely would not be in accordance with well-settled principles of criminal law.

The bench granted bail to the petitioner on the terms and conditions imposed by the trial court. It further clarified that the conditions for bail set by the High Court in the related case registered by the Enforcement Directorate would also apply in this case.

Ghosh was asked to deposit his passport with the investigating agency and not to leave the state of West Bengal without prior permission of the trial court/investigating agency. He was also asked to share his mobile number with the investigating agency and the trial court.

The lawyer representing the CBI requested the bench to impose a condition that Ghosh should not hold any political office during the pendency of the case.

The court observed that it could not give such a direction and however barred Ghosh from holding public office while the case remained pending.

The lawyer representing Ghosh argued that the petitioner has been granted bail in the linked PMLA case by the Calcutta High Court. He further claimed that the petitioner has been in judicial custody for over 19 months since his arrest on February 20, 2023, adding that the three co-accused have already been released on bail.

Appearing for the CBI, the Additional Solicitor General opposed the petition on the grounds that Ghosh was part of a widespread scam. He had created a fake website that looked like the original website of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education. The accused had allegedly collected around Rs 4 crore as bribe from undeserving candidates to recruit them.

Ghosh was an influential person belonging to the party that ruled in the state of West Bengal. His release would result in intimidation of the witnesses. The investigation was yet to be completed when the CBI proposed to file supplementary charges, the ASG added.

The Apex Court noted that in the last hearing, the CBI had proposed to examine 183 witnesses. The investigation was yet to be completed and the process was taking time, the bench added.

The CBI had arrested Ghosh on 20 February 2023 on charges of cheating and forgery. He was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

The Trinamool Congress suspended Ghosh in March 2023 following his arrest.