Former forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick was produced in the Bankshall court on Sunday morning which remanded him in ED custody till 16 November. The ED’s lawyer requested the judge to grant Mallick’s remand to the agency for questioning. However, referring to the former minister’s illness, Jyotipriya’s lawyer said that his client is sick and needs to be treated in a government hospital.

Interestingly, the former minister did not apply for bail before the judge. In a dramatic turn of events on Sunday morning, Mallick, also known as Balu, was unable to walk on his own as he exited the ED’s Salt Lake office amid allegations of corruption. A few hours later, he appeared in the court and asked for a comparative health check-up. Pleading before the court, he said, “I’ve suffered a lot on the left side of my body.” While heading for a health examination at the Command Hospital, Mallick said that he had suffered a stroke. Despite struggling to walk with his left hand hanging limp, he asserted, “I will die. The situation is very dire.”

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During the health examination, he expressed concern about the severity of his condition, and said: “My body is in a critical condition and I’m on the verge of death. One side of my body has been severely impacted.” A long-time diabetic patient, Mallick has been grappling with health issues for quite some time. Mallick had faced a health setback on his way to the court, with two officials from the ED department assisting him cautiously. He carried bags in one hand and showing signs of weakness passed on the bags to an official upon arrival. Despite being under the protective custody of the ED until 13 November, Mallick had to appear in court a day earlier.

He repeatedly stated, “I am innocent. I have been cleared by the ED. Everything will be clear by 13 November.” As the court proceedings unfold, the focus remains on Mallick’s health and the unfolding developments surrounding the alleged corruption cases. Meanwhile, a network of accounting experts, including some qualified chartered accountants, have come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the agency’s investigation into the multi-crore ration distribution case in West Bengal.

Sources said that while examining different documents and clues accumulated in connection with the case, the agency was surprised by the orchestrated system of operations in the entire case, starting from collection of proceeds to diversion using shell corporate entities and finally investing portions of the proceeds in diverse businesses and real estate sectors.

The ED is of the opinion that without the help of more than one accounting unit, especially qualified chartered accounts, such accounting juggleries in the entire process would never have been possible.

Sources said that the central agency is currently preparing a list of chartered accountants associated with the 10 shell corporate entities whose names have surfaced in the course of investigation, as well as in the legal businesses where these ill-gotten proceeds were invested. On the basis of requirement, sources added, the central agency will summon some of them for interrogation in the matter.