E-Paper
ED frames charges against ex-TMC minister, 53 others in Bengal job scam
The accused include former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee, his aide Arpita Mukherjee, ex-state primary education board president and legislator Manik Bhattacharya and 51 others
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has framed charges against West Bengal’s former education minister Partha Chatterjee, his aide Arpita Mukherjee, ex-state primary education board president and legislator Manik Bhattacharya and 51 others accused in the teacher recruitment scam, officials of the federal agency said on Tuesday.
The accused include Sujaykrishna Bhadra against whom ED filed chargesheet in July 2023. Bhadra, who was questioned by both ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before his arrest, told the media in March 2023 that he worked for Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
“Abhishek Banerjee is my boss. I work for his company. Since Banerjee cannot be touched by anyone, the agencies are targeting other people. It won’t help,” Bhadra said on March 23, 2023, reiterating the TMC’s claim that federal agencies are being used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for political reasons.
Abhishek Banerjee and his wife were questioned by CBI and ED but no chargesheet has been filed against them till now.
The framing of charges under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at Kolkata’s ED court will initiate the trial process, officials said.
Charges have been framed against numerous suspected shell companies as well. The accused persons and these companies were named in chargesheets ED filed earlier.
The CBI, which started probing the bribe-for-job scam under orders from the Calcutta high court, has also filed several chargesheets since 2022 when the probe began.
In December last year, the Supreme Court granted bail to Partha Chatterjee in the ED case, but the Calcutta high court denied him bail in the CBI case. The Supreme Court, while hearing Chatterjee’s bail petition, directed ED to frame the charges by December 31, 2024.
The charges against the 54 accused were framed on Monday and Tuesday.
Arpita Mukherjee was present in the ED court on Tuesday when the charges were framed against her. She claimed that the money and jewelry recovered from her residence did not belong to her, lawyers said.
Manik Bhattacharya was also present in court on Monday. He, too, denied allegations of his involvement. Partha Chatterjee and Sujaykrishna Bhadra, who is in hospital, attended the proceedings virtually on Monday.
The ED arrested Chatterjee and Mukherjee on July 23, 2022. More than ₹50 crore in cash, gold and foreign currency were recovered at that time from apartments registered in Mukherjee’s name. She was found to be the director of at least five companies and owner of several properties and businesses to which Chatterjee claimed to have no link.
ED has said that it has traced cash, jewelry and immovable property worth ₹103.10 crore linked to the duo. The charges mention 35 bank accounts, 40 immovable properties, 31 life insurance policies and many shell companies that Chatterjee allegedly formed to launder bribes paid by ineligible candidates to get jobs in state-run schools during his tenure as education minister between 2014 and 2021.
In May 2022, the Calcutta high court ordered the CBI to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021. The appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of ₹5-15 lakh to get jobs after failing the selection tests.
