Calcutta HC okays order for CBI probe into recruitment by civic bodies
The West Bengal government moved a division bench challenging justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s order and sought a stay
KOLKATA:A Calcutta high court vacation bench on Monday upheld the April 21 order of a single bench that ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe alleged irregularities in the recruitment of staffers by several civic bodies in West Bengal, a lawyer who attended the hearing said.
The state government moved a division bench challenging justice Gangopadhyay’s order and sought a stay.
The vacation bench of justices Biswajit Basu and Apurba Sinha Ray on Monday dismissed the state’s appeal and said the case will be next heard on June 6.
The April 21 order was passed by justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay who, in May 2022, also directed the CBI to probe the bribe-for-job case in state-run schools which led to the arrest of several Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders.
Justice Gangopadhyay passed the April 21 order on a report by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which said documents recovered during its probe into irregularities in recruitment indicated that a similar scam took place in many civic bodies, said lawyer Firdous Samim, who is representing victims of the school recruitment case.
In April, ED told the high court that some documents relating to recruitment by civic bodies were recovered from the home of businessman Ayan Sil, one of the prime suspects in the school recruitment case and who was arrested in March. The court ordered CBI to initiate a separate investigation and register a first information report (FIR) if required.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the court order. “There has been massive corruption in appointments by civic bodies. Many of these are in the Hooghly district,” Adhikari said.
TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said: “We respect every court order but Adhikari should not rejoice. He, too, is accused of taking money from the Saradha chit fund company.”
