ANI
Other accused in the case, including rice mill owner Bakibur Rehman and North 24 Parganas local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shankar Aadhya, were granted bail in August last year. In January 2024, the ED informed a Kolkata court that the scam, which involved diverting subsidized food grains meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS) for open market sale, was estimated to be around ₹20,000 crore.
Former West Bengal Food Minister Jyotipriya Mallik, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2023 in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam, was granted bail by the Kolkata High Court on Wednesday. Mallik, who was the state food minister from 2011 to 2021, was arrested by the ED on October 27, 2023, after 20 hours of questioning. A senior lawyer present in the courtroom at Bankshall Court said that the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court granted bail to Malik on a personal bond of ₹50 lakh and a surety bond of ₹50,000 and two sureties of ₹25,000 each.
Other accused in the case, including rice mill owner Bakibur Rehman and North 24 Parganas local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shankar Aadhya, were granted bail in August last year. In January 2024, the ED informed a Kolkata court that the scam, which involved diverting subsidized food grains meant for the Public Distribution System (PDS) for open market sale, was estimated to be around ₹20,000 crore.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee removed Malik from the government in February 2024, where he was then serving as the state’s Forest and Industrial Reconstruction Minister. Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sujan Chakraborty alleged that leaders close to the Chief Minister were being granted bail. Chakraborty said there is a tacit understanding between TMC and central agencies.
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