The CBI has summoned West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee for questioning in the multi-crore teachers’ recruitment scam
He has been called to the office at Nizam Palace, Kolkata on 18 April.
Earlier, the Supreme Court stayed the interrogation of Abhishek by ED and CBI in the teacher recruitment scam of West Bengal.
The Supreme Court will hear the matter on April 24 next and till then the investigating agencies will not be able to interrogate Abhishek.
On April 13, Calcutta High Court Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had ordered that central agencies like ED and CBI can interrogate Abhishek if needed. And this investigation should be done soon.
The High Court had also directed the Bengal Police not to register any FIR against the CBI and ED officers probing the matter.
Abhishek Banerjee filed a petition in the Supreme Court against this order. A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala stayed both the orders on Monday.
Allegations by Abhishek Banerjee
1. Pressure is being created to take my name in the scam
On March 29, Abhishek Banerjee had told that people in the custody of agencies are being pressurized to take my name in the scam. Kuntal Ghosh, another accused in this case, had also alleged that he was being pressurized to name Abhishek Banerjee.
Kuntal Ghosh had also written a letter to the trial court judge against the CBI regarding his allegations.
On this, the Calcutta High Court had said that it would have to be investigated whether Ghosh had said his words after being influenced by Abhishek Banerjee’s speech. In such a situation, CBI-ED can interrogate Abhishek whenever it wants.
2. Told the Supreme Court – I don’t like the judge who ordered the investigation
Banerjee had said in the petition filed in the Supreme Court that Judge Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court does not like him. He had expressed his displeasure in an interview given to a news channel in September last year.
Banerjee also said that Justice Gangopadhyay had commented on the judges of the Supreme Court hearing the case in the open court that the judges of the Supreme Court can do whatever they want? Is it landlordism?
The teacher recruitment scam
This scam happened in Bengal in 2014. Then the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) took out the recruitment of teachers in government schools.
The process started in 2016. Partha Chatterjee was the education minister at that time. Several complaints of irregularities in this matter were filed in the Calcutta High Court.
The petitioners alleged that the candidates whose marks were less were placed at the top of the merit list.
Some candidates were given jobs even though their names were not there in the merit list. Such people were also given jobs, who did not even pass the TET exam.
The CBI had presented the first charge sheet on September 30 last year. It contained the names of 16 people including former education minister Partha Chatterjee.
ED had arrested Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee. Parth is in jail since 23 July 2022, his bail pleas have been rejected.
