Prison Officer Faces Consequences for Allowing Partha Chatterjee to Wear Rings in Custody

A senior official of the West Bengal Correctional Services Department is facing the court’s anger after former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, the prime accused in an alleged teacher recruitment scam, was allowed to wear rings in jail. The Inspector General (Correctional Services) submitted a report to the court on the action taken against the superintendent of Presidency Central Correctional Home for breaching the prison manual. In response, the court expressed dissatisfaction with the report and accused the superintendent of failing to act accordingly. Additionally, the counsel of the Enforcement Directorate questioned the prison official’s role in the matter. The next hearing is scheduled for July 1, and it is anticipated that Chatterjee will appear with a senior lawyer from New Delhi. On April 19, during a hearing, the Enforcement Directorate’s counsel pointed out that Chatterjee was wearing rings while in judicial custody, stating that it demonstrated his influence. Meanwhile, Chatterjee argued that he wore the rings for health and religious reasons and that he had never been instructed to remove them.