The Calcutta High Court has rejected the bail plea of former West Bengal minister Sujit Bose in a money laundering case linked to the alleged recruitment scam in South Dum Dum Municipality.

Justice Tithankar Ghosh, in Sujit Bose v. Directorate of Enforcement, held that Bose failed to satisfy the mandatory conditions for bail under Section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).\

The Court observed that there were no reasonable grounds to believe that Bose was not guilty of the alleged offences or that he was unlikely to commit any offence while on bail. It further clarified that the filing of the prosecution complaint and the trial court's cognizance of the matter did not, by themselves, justify granting him bail.

"The Central Bureau of Investigation has also commenced further investigation after informing the Learned Special Court pursuant to receipt of information by the Enforcement Directorate. A vital stage of the investigation is in progress," the Court observed in its October 13 order.

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), several illegal municipal appointments were made on the recommendations of Bose and other "politically exposed persons".

Appearing for Bose, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued that his client had cooperated with the ED whenever summoned and was arrested only three years after the registration of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR).

Singhvi further submitted that the delay in arrest undermined the claim that custodial interrogation was necessary. He also argued that there was no genuine apprehension that Bose would abscond or tamper with evidence.

Opposing the bail plea, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED, alleged that Bose had laundered approximately ₹20.40 crore through various bank accounts, including those belonging to him and his family members.

The ED also submitted that seized digital records, recruitment data, property transactions, cash deposits, shareholding arrangements and structured payments established the alleged generation and laundering of proceeds of crime. Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Sabyasachi Banerjee, along with advocates Kuldeep Rai, Dhananjay Kumar, Mihir Joshi, Aditya Singh Chauhan, Nahid Ahmed, Pragya Banerjee and Aishwariya Mishra, appeared for Bose.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, ASG Dhiraj Trivedi and Senior Advocate Zoheb Hossain, along with advocates Adil Rashid, Samrat Goswami, Snigdha Ghosh, Aparna Sarkar, Aaryan Bansal and Shivam Singh, represented the Enforcement Directorate.