Bengal School Employment Scam: Charge Framing in ED Case Concluded, Trial Set to Commence This Month
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Kolkata, Jan 7 (NationPress) The charge framing process in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation regarding the multi-crore alleged cash-for-school job scandal in West Bengal was concluded at a special court in Kolkata on Tuesday, according to officials.
It has been reported that charges have been established against 53 individuals identified as accused in various charge sheets submitted by the ED at the special court.
Among the 53 individuals accused, 29 are private citizens while the remaining 24 are corporate entities or trusts.
The ED has submitted a total of five charge sheets in connection with this case.
With the completion of the charge framing process, the trial proceedings in this matter are scheduled to commence at the same special court this month.
The trial will initiate with the recording of statements from three witnesses involved in the case. This process will take place entirely in-camera within a closed courtroom.
Those listed in the charge sheet as accused include prominent figures such as former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee and party legislator along with the former President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) Manik Bhattacharya.
Chatterjee's close associate Arpita Mukherjee, from whose two residences the ED officials confiscated significant amounts of cash and gold in July 2022, has also been named as an accused. His son-in-law Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya has also been implicated in the case.
Among the trusts named as accused in the charge sheet, one is the Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, named in memory of Chatterjee’s late wife. The primary accusation against this trust is that illicit gains from the school job case were disguised as donations to the trust, thereby misappropriating funds.
