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Calcutta HC okays CBI probe into West Bengal civic bodies job scam
Thursday’s order was passed by justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee observing that there appears to be a common link between the corruption in recruitment by the municipalities and the school education department
A Calcutta high court division bench on Thursday upheld the May 22 order of a vacation bench which asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe a suspected recruitment scam in a large number of civic bodies in West Bengal, lawyers who attended the hearing said.
The May 22 order of the vacation bench – which upheld the April 21 order of the single bench of justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay – was challenged by the state government.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government moved the vacation bench after another single bench, headed by justice Amrita Sinha, upheld the order of justice Gangopadhyay in May.
The matter was heard by justice Sinha after the government moved the Supreme Court challenging the April 21 order of justice Gangopadhyay. Refusing to intervene in the matter, the Supreme Court ordered that the case may be heard by another judge instead of justice Gangopadhyay.
Also Read: CBI raids 16 West Bengal civic bodies in recruitment case
Thursday’s order was passed by justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee observing that there appears to be a common link between the corruption in recruitment by the municipalities and the school education department which the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are already probing, lawyers said.
While the government moved from one court to another to stop the CBI probe, around 100 officials of the federal agency conducted a massive raid last week.
The CBI on June 7 raided 16 municipal corporations in West Bengal in connection with the alleged recruitment scam in municipalities across the state.
The agency seized documents from 16 civic bodies in Nadia, Hooghly and North 24 Parganas districts and also the Salt Lake municipality on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata.
Meanwhile, the CBI operation triggered a political slugfest with chief minister Mamata Banerjee taking a swipe at the Centre while distributing compensation for victims of the railway disaster in Odisha.
“The biggest railway accident of this century has taken place but efforts are being made to suppress it. Instead of probing the train accident, the CBI has been sent by Delhi to 16 civic bodies. These tactics cannot suppress the truth behind the railway disaster,” Banerjee had said.
Welcoming Thursday’s order, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said, “Top TMC leaders are involved in this corruption. People will come to know the truth.”
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of various posts in different municipalities of the state in recent years. CBI is probing the matter on the directions of the Calcutta high court.
A preliminary investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) suggests that the recruitment scam in civic bodies may be to the tune of ₹200 crore.
