Kolkata, April 30 (IANS): A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday rejected the bail plea filed by former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.

Chatterjee has already spent 21 months behind bars since his arrest by the ED in connection with the multi-crore cash-for-school-jobs case in West Bengal.

After being denied bail in the lower court multiple times, Chatterjee had approached the Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh.

The matter came up for hearing before Justice Ghosh’s bench on April 23. Justice Ghosh, who reserved the judgment for Tuesday, ruled that the bail petition by Chatterjee stands rejected.

Chatterjee’s counsel argued that his client had no connection with the huge amount of cash recovered from the residence of his close aide Arpita Mukherjee, and hence he should be granted bail.

The counsel also sought the bail on behalf of his client on medical grounds.

However, the ED counsel opposed the bail application citing several points that point to the close association between Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee.

The ED counsel also argued that Chatterjee was willing to take the financial responsibilities of a child, which Mukherjee wished to adopt.