The judicial custody of former West Bengal cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee was extended by a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata on Thursday.

The court extended the custody of Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee, who were arrested in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam case, till August 31.

Earlier, the court had sent the two prime accused to judicial custody till August 18 in connection with the scam.

During the previous hearing, Mukherjee’s counsel did not plead for her bail as they believed that her life was in danger. They asked the court to keep her with not more than four prisoners.

The judicial custody of Arpita Mukherjee was sought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Meanwhile, the advocate representing former state minister Chatterjee said that he is not connected with the crime.

The advocate said, “In ED case on July 22, when his house was raided nothing has been recovered. If you try to ask a man who is not involved in the crime, he will obviously be non-cooperative.”

The pair was taken into custody last month for their alleged involvement in the recruitment scam.

ED had raided several premises linked to Arpita Mukherjee in the scam and recovered cash amounting to around Rs 50 crore, foreign currency, jewellery and gold biscuits.

It may be noted that Chatterjee served as the education minister in West Bengal from 2014 to 2021 in the Trinamool Congress led government. Following his arrest, he was swiftly removed from his ministerial position and suspended from the party.