Bengal School Employment Scandal: Charge Framing Delayed Again Due to Hospitalized Accused
Click to start listening
Kolkata, Jan 2 (NationPress) The process of charge framing in the significant cash-for-school-job scandal in West Bengal, which is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), faced another delay on Thursday as one of the key accused could not be present in court because he is hospitalized.
The charge framing was previously postponed on December 30 for the same reason, as accused Sujay Krishna Bhadra was admitted to a state-run hospital after experiencing health issues. On the evening of December 30, he was transferred to a private hospital in south Kolkata and placed on ventilator support.
However, he was taken off ventilation on Wednesday night and moved to another private multi-specialty hospital near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in east Kolkata, where he is currently receiving treatment in the ICCU.
According to regulations, the charge framing process cannot be completed unless all accused individuals are physically present in court.
The ED has indicted a total of 29 individuals along with 24 corporate entities and trusts in their charge sheets submitted to the special court over time.
In addition to Bhadra, notable figures mentioned in the charge sheet include former Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee, as well as ruling party legislator and former President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Manik Bhattacharya.
Chatterjee's close associate, Arpita Mukherjee, from whose two residences the ED recovered a substantial amount of cash and gold in July 2022, has also been implicated in the charge sheet. Furthermore, Chatterjee's son-in-law, Kalyan Moy Bhattacharya, is listed as an accused. A trust named Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, after Chatterjee's late wife, is also included in the indictment.
