Undue Long Incarceration and Delay in Seeking Sanction: Calcutta HC Grants Bail to 62-year-old para-teacher in School Recruitment PMLA Case [Read Order]

The Calcutta High Court has granted bail to 62-year-old para teacher Chandan Mondal in a money laundering case related to the suspected illegal recruitment of Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ workers in West Bengal schools.

Justice Jay Sengupta ordered the release of the petitioner, stating that while the charges are serious and the strictures of Section 45 of thePrevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) were insurmountable on merits, the long period of incarceration of the accused and the delays in investigation were in favour of bail under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Mondal, a 62-year-old para-teacher, was arrested by the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) in November 2024 soon after he got bail in the predicate CBI case of the recruiting fraud. He was taken into custody by the ED in a case in which he had previously spent almost 1 year and 9 months in custody in the CBI case. The ED had accused Mondal was a ‘main agent’ of the main conspirator, collecting illegal gratifications from candidates and stacking the profits of crime through different bank accounts.

The Court noted the scheme comprised manipulation of thousands of OMR sheets, collecting hundreds of crores of rupees and admitted the severity of the charges. It was held that there was no reasonable foundation to assume that the petitioner was not guilty and that the twin conditions of Section 45 PMLA have not been satisfied.

However, the Court noted various mitigating circumstances, including the petitioner's age, his considerably lesser part than the principal conspirators, and the fact that he had already spent a large portion of the maximum allowable term (7 years) while in detention.

The Court also observed delays caused by the prosecution. It noted that the ED took a long time to take the petitioner in custody in the PMLA matter and hesitated in requesting for sanction for prosecution against the public workers. The Court further noted that the ED had admitted that no pre-cognizance hearing was held under Section 223 of the BNSS, which is a procedural requirement and may compel a restart of proceedings.

Balancing the aggravating circumstances of the economic offence against the petitioner’s fundamental right to a speedy trial, the Court held that the petitioner’s extended incarceration would be unjust. The court decided that Mondal be freed on bail of Rs. 50,000 on stringent terms including a bar on leaving the jurisdiction without leave and a ban on being nominated to any public post during the trial.

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