India, Sept. 27 -- The Calcutta high court on Friday granted conditional bail to former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee in the teacher and school staff recruitment case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, lawyers who attended the hearing said.

"The single bench of justice Suvra Ghosh granted the bail but directed Chatterjee to surrender his passport and not to leave the jurisdiction of Kolkata's Alipore court where the trial has started. The court also directed that the Trinamool Congress MLA cannot be appointed to any public office until the trial ends," a lawyer said, requesting anonymity.

Chatterjee has been in judicial custody since 2022 when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate whic...