Calcutta High Court yet again allows CBI, ED allowed to quiz Abhishek Banerjee in school recruitment case

 Calcutta High Court yet again allows CBI, ED allowed to quiz Abhishek Banerjee in school recruitment case 

New Delhi 

In a major legal and political setback to Trinamool Congress, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday upheld its previous order and empowered the central agencies including CBI and ED to question national general secretary of TMC, Abhishek Banerjee, in connection with the multi-crore recruitment scam in West Bengal.

Last month Calcutta High Court Judge, Abhijt Gangopadhyay, had asked the central investigating agencies to bring Banerjee, who is also nephew of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, under the ambit of the recruitment scam.

Justice Gangopadhyay in an open court room had said in April that Lok Sabha MP, Abhishekh Banerjee, and Kuntal Ghosh should be interrogated together. 

Mr. Ghosh, an accused in the case, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 21 for his alleged involvement in the scam. Ghosh later alleged in the court that the central agencies were pressuring him to name Abhishek Banerjee. 

The judge also had referred to a speech by the TMC general secretary in which he said that attempts were made to frame him .

During Thursday (May 18) hearing, the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and 

Enforcement Directorate (ED) to question 'expelled youth' Trinamool Congress leader Kuntal Ghosh in connection with his allegations accusing the central 

agencies of putting pressure on him to name Abhishek Banerjee in the job case.

Abhishek Banerjee had earlier approached the Supreme Court for the April 13 order that he could be questioned. 

Following the order of the Supreme Court, two related cases in the matter were transferred to the bench of Justice Sinha.

The hearing in the matter was concluded on May 15 and Justice Sinha pronounced the verdict on Thursday. 

Kuntal Ghosh had also penned letters to local police as well as to the judge of a lower court accusing central agencies of putting pressure on him 

to name the Trinamool general secretary in the alleged scam.

During the course of hearing last week, Justice Sinha had raised questions about the reasons for the petitioner's reluctance in facing the 

investigation in the matter. Justice Sinha also had said that no one (that is Abhishek Banerjee) is above investigation and

that the petitioner should cooperate in the investigation process. 

"Let the investigating agency decide who is involved and who is not. The legal system is above all. Everyone should cooperate in the 

process of investigation," Justice Sinha had observed earlier.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also had submitted a report before the Calcutta High Court after Banerjee filed an appeal seeking relief from 

questioning in connection with the teachers' recruitment scam that has jolted West Bengal polity for last one year or so.

It may be mentioned that the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation are both probing the case and more than a dozen of accused, 

including former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya and several officials of the State Education Department 

and middle men, are behind bars.

In September 2022, Justice Gangopadhyay in an interview reportedly to a private television channel said that “Mr. Banerjee should be jailed for three months 

for alleging that a section of the judiciary was hand in glove with the Bharatiya Janata Party“.

Predictably,  the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit reacted sharply to the courtroom remarks. 

TMC MP Aparoopa Poddar took to social media and challenged him to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

“If you have to do politics, then leave the chair,” party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said. 

Last year West Bengal leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the case and submitted a list of 100 suspects.

 

"The teachers recruitment scam in West Bengal is the biggest such scam in the country

since Independence. Even the Home Minister shared the same sentiment...In Haryana there was a

scam for 3000 teachers. In Tripura it involved about 11,000 teachers' job. In Bengal's case for

job of 75,000 teachers, about 50,000 such jobs have been simply sold out," Adhikari had told reporters.

The Calcutta High Court has in an order recently cancelled jobs of around 32,000 untrained primary school teachers,.

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