The Supreme Court of India questioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about the continued incarceration of former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, who is accused in a cash-for-job scam. The court expressed concern about the length of his detention and questioned the message it sends to society regarding corruption. The court also considered whether releasing him would impact the investigation and what conditions could be imposed to ensure his compliance. The court reserved its order after hearing arguments from both sides.
The ED had arrested Chatterjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress secretary-general, on July 23 in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment drives by the School Service Commission.
According to the agency, several of the attached properties were registered in the name of shell companies and persons acting as proxies for Chatterjee.
West Bengal's industry minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested in the SSC scam, should be removed immediately from his post and expelled from the Trinamool Congress, the party's state general secretary Kunal Ghosh demanded on Thursday.
Chatterjee had quit the TMC in November 2018, resigning as minister, mayor and district president, citing personal reasons.
The middle-aged woman, Shubra Ghorui, is said to have harboured anger against Chatterjee after the seizure of around Rs 50 crore in cash, along with jewellery, by the ED.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday issued summons to Trinamool Congress secretary general and senior West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee in connection with the I-core ponzi scam, sources in the agency said.
The members of the advisory panel, which was constituted by the West Bengal School Education Department in November, 2019 for monitoring pending recruitments of teaching and non-teaching staff in the schools, were questioned by CBI sleuths earlier.
Ministers arrested post-2014 who, if the 130 Constitutional Amendment had been in effect, would have been unseated from office.
Asked further if anybody was conspiring against him, he said: "You will get to know when the time comes."
'Indian private universities can provide world-class education at one fourth the cost, home comforts, and direct links to Indian and global industries.'
The Supreme Court of India has invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in West Bengal's state-run and state-aided schools, deeming the selection process "vitiated and tainted." The court ordered the state government to conduct a fresh selection process within three months. The decision comes after a Calcutta High Court verdict in April 2024, which also annulled the appointments. The apex court, while upholding the high court's order, made some modifications, including exempting disabled employees from returning their salaries. The case stemmed from alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), involving OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping. The Supreme Court had previously termed it a "systemic fraud." Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being investigated in the recruitment scam.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has defended her support for teachers who were dismissed following a Supreme Court verdict, accusing the BJP and CPI(M) of "hatching a conspiracy" to influence the ruling. She dared the BJP to arrest her for supporting the affected candidates, while asserting that her government will abide by the verdict but explore all legal options. The development has triggered political reactions with the BJP demanding Banerjee's resignation, while the CPI(M) expressed concern over the impact on the education system. Banerjee also criticized the BJP's handling of the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, drawing parallels to the school jobs scam in West Bengal.
The political heat in West Bengal has been giving the rising mercury levels serious competition since the high court order.
Sircar, a retired IAS officer, claimed that corruption by a section of leaders of his party and lack of action against them was one of the reasons for his decision.
The Calcutta high court on Monday declared as null and void the selection process of State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools, ordering cancellation of all appointments made through it.
ED sleuths have recovered around Rs 50 crore in cash, along with jewellery, from her two flats in south-west Kolkata and Belghoria.
'My primary point was where is the Mamata Banerjee who jumps and reaches out, starts talking directly and starts solving over the heads of the bureaucracy.'
Amid demands for expulsion of arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee by Trinamool Congress leaders, the party convened a meeting on Thursday evening.
The raids continued for nearly seven hours during which the ED sleuths seized a number of documents.
The announcement is seen as a bid to assert Banerjee's control over the party, and stem dissension between a section of TMC's old guard and the next generation leaders.
The raid by the ED, which is probing the money trail of the school jobs scam, was conducted late Thursday evening, an official of the agency said.
Chatterjee, who was the state education minister when the scam took place, was arrested after around 26 hours of grilling in connection with the probe.
Ghosh had appeared before the ED sleuths at the agency's office in the city during the day.
The demonstration was held by the protesting school job aspirants at Camac Street in South Kolkata, where TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's office is located.
Among other measures, TMC announced Monday that it had formed coordination committees in all districts comprising senior leaders to look into party members' grievances.
Sources said the reshuffle will also aim at an image makeover for the party hit by school jobs scam probe.
The 34-year-old actor had been maintaining a distance from the saffron party after it failed to unseat Mamata Banerjee's government from power in the eastern state despite a high-pitched campaign.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has begun the process of freezing at least five bank accounts of Arpita Mukherjee, the associate of arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, where they have found at least Rs 2 crore, a senior official said on Saturday.
Since the purported seizure on Friday night, social media has gone abuzz with gossip about her alleged relationship with the senior Trinamool Congress leader.
Former education minister of West Bengal Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were sent to 14 days in judicial custody by a special court in Kolkata on Friday in the SSC scam case.
In a break from tradition, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was on Thursday administered the oath as a member of the state assembly by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal from his residence in Bolpur for allegedly not cooperating in its probe into a cattle smuggling case, an official said.
Doctors at the medical establishment, after a check-up, said he was suffering from chronic diseases but does not need immediate hospitalisation.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out simultaneous raids at the houses of around a dozen people, including two ministers, in connection with its investigation into the teacher recruitment scam and seized huge amounts of cash.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday grilled arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee who were arrested in connection with the school jobs scam, sources said.
Banerjee, considered number two in the party, declined to comply with the notice, citing his engagement with an ongoing mass outreach campaign and upcoming panchayat polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is arriving in New Delhi on Thursday for a four-day visit during which she is likely to meet senior leaders and attend a Niti Aayog meeting on August 7, sources said.
The raids were conducted on Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, he said. There was no objection to the raids by Hossain, a two-time TMC MLA and a businessman.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids in three locations in and around Kolkata and again recovered large stacks of cash from a flat linked to Arpita Mukherjee, considered a close associate of arrested West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee.
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