The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about the prolonged incarceration of former Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee in a money laundering case and noted that the conviction rate in such offences was "very poor" and no purpose would be served by keeping an accused in jail till the conclusion of the trial.

The court hinted that Chatterjee could be released on interim bail and the same may be cancelled if he tried to influence the case as apprehended by the ED. After briefly hearing the arguments, the court posted the matter for further hearing on December 2.

Chatterjee, who was the education minister from 2014 to 2021, is accused of corruption in the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff to government-aided schools.

The CBI arrested Chatterjee on September 16, 2022. But he has been in custody longer since the ED picked him up on July 23, 2022.

"Mr ASG what is your conviction rate for ED?... it is very very poor... we would have understood if it was 60 to 70 per cent," a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan asked additional solicitor general (ASG) S.V. Raju who appeared for the ED.

The bench was dealing with an appeal filed by Chatterjee for bail after the plea was rejected by the trial court and Calcutta High Court.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi who appeared for Chatterjee argued that the former minister couldn't be denied bail indefinitely as the trial was yet to commence and hundreds of witnesses had to be examined.

Rohatgi has pointed out that there are 183 witnesses in the case, Chatterjee was arrested on July 23, 2022, is 73 years old and already spent 2.5 years in jail and even if convicted, the maximum sentence is seven years.

Chatterjee's counsel cited provisions under the bail laws of both CrPC and the new BNSS, under which an undertrial is entitled to bail after the completion of 1/3rd of the period of maximum punishment prescribed under the statute.

He further submitted that several other accused, including Arpita Mukherjee, the alleged associate of the former minister, had been granted bail recently.

The bench remarked that Chatterjee was a minister and the allegations were serious in nature as it was under his orders that the jobs had been given.

ASG Raju opposed the bail plea arguing that thousands of innocent people were deprived of jobs and undeserving candidates were appointed.

He said ₹22 crore had been recovered from co-accused Arpita and ₹29 crore had been seized from Anant Tech Square and the woman had named Chatterjee as the actual owner of the amounts.

"When arrested, he got admitted to a government hospital and he feigned illness and it was serious. He is a minister and it is about rampant corruption that hit the lives of 50,000 people," Raju said.

The bench, however, asked: "How long can we keep him behind bars...?... this is a case where about two years and four months gone by... and the trial takes time... We also cannot ignore the fact that allegations are very serious of a minister taking cash... if, in the ultimate analysis, he is not convicted, then what will happen... what will happen to the three years gone by.".

Raju said the ED had evidence to ensure that Chatterjee was sentenced to seven years in jail. "This is not a case to exercise discretion. this is about neck-deep corruption," the ASG argued.

"If we grant interim bail for some time, we can see if he is exerting or influencing witnesses and then bail could be cancelled...," the bench said.