School recruitment case: TMC MLA, family members named in ED chargesheet

Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator and former president of the primary education board, Manik Bhattacharya, was a key player in the bribe-for-job scam, ED officials said

The enforcement directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed its second chargesheet in the Bengal school recruitment case, naming Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator and former president of the primary education board, Manik Bhattacharya, as a key player in the bribe-for-job scam, officials of the federal agency said.

The ED also submitted to the court supplementary documents of around 6000 pages. (File photo)

Bhattacharya, the MLA from Palashipara in Nadia district, was arrested by ED on October 11.

Rejecting his bail petition, the court on Wednesday extended the judicial remand till January 7.

The 159-page charge sheet filed also named Bhattacharya’s wife and son as suspected beneficiaries of bribe money, an ED official said on condition of anonymity.

Tapas Mondal, a close associate of the MLA, and two companies that he ran were named in the chargesheet as well.

The ED also submitted to the court supplementary documents of around 6000 pages.

ED’s lawyers told the special court that Mondal used to collect bribe from job seekers and give the money to Bhattacharya who subsequently distributed it among some highly-placed people who are now under scanner.

The chargesheet mentioned that Bhattacharya`s son ran a company that offered training to aspiring teachers who applied for jobs in state-run schools. The company allegedly charged hefty fees towards “development cost,” the document said.

Bhattacharya is the second high-profile TMC leader to be arrested and charged in the recruitment scam.

Former education minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee were arrested by ED on July 23. Both are now in judicial custody.

In May, Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the appointment of a few hundred non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.

The appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of ₹5-15 lakh to get jobs after failing selection tests.

The ED is conducting a parallel probe.

The scam took place between 2014 and 2021 when Chatterjee was education minister.