West Bengal Job Scandal: CBI Submits Charge Sheet Against Partha Chatterjee
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Kolkata, Dec 27 (NationPress) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has officially filed a charge sheet regarding the high-profile cash-for-job scandal in West Bengal, implicating the state's former Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee.
This charge sheet has been submitted amidst ongoing proceedings at a special court in Kolkata, where the process of framing charges in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) concerning the alleged job scam is currently taking place.
Chatterjee has also been identified as a primary suspect in the ED's charge sheet.
His arrest occurred in July 2022 when the ED discovered a significant amount of cash and gold at the residences of his close associate, Arpita Mukherjee.
Moreover, in October of this year, the CBI formally recorded his arrest in connection with the case. On Friday, the CBI presented a comprehensive 40-page charge sheet, asserting that the former state minister, alongside his close aides, amassed cash from over 1,000 individuals who unlawfully secured school positions in exchange for money.
Chatterjee and nine additional co-defendants have already sought legal recourse from the ED's case. The charge framing process at the special court continues even during the year-end court holidays.
In the ED's fifth and final supplementary charge sheet, it indicates that both Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee were the most significant beneficiaries of the school job scam. The charge sheet reveals that out of the total Rs 151.26 crore seized by the ED, Chatterjee and Mukherjee collectively benefited by Rs 103.78 crore.
This confiscation includes both cash and gold, as well as attached immovable properties.
Subsequent charge sheets filed by the ED in this case have implicated a total of 53 parties, consisting of 29 individuals and 24 corporate entities and trusts. These trusts were primarily established to launder the proceeds from the scam under the guise of donations.
One such trust mentioned by the ED is the Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, named after Partha Chatterjee's late wife. In addition to Chatterjee, his son-in-law, Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya, has also been accused in this case.
