HC rejects Abhishek’s petition on teacher recruitment scam probe

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee seeking recall of a previous order of the same court which said that investigative agencies such as CBI and ED could interrogate him in the teacher recruitment scam.

Justice Amrita Sinha, while dismissing the petition, imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on him and also a similar amount on Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the scam. Ghosh is now in CBI custody in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruitment in West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools.

With the dismissal of the plea to recall the previous Calcutta High Court order, the CBI and ED may, if they so wish, interrogate Abhishek, also the nephew of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, in connection with their probe into the teacher recruitment case. The TMC leader’s name cropped up in a complaint filed by Ghosh, who alleged in it, that he was being pressured by central investigating agencies to name Abhishek Banerjee in the recruitment case.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, in his order on April 13, said that accused Kuntal Ghosh could be questioned by the central agencies along with Abhishek Banerjee.
Banerjee, the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour, had moved the apex court challenging the order and his lawyers referred to an interview by Justice Gangopadhyay to a news channel, in which he allegedly spoke against the TMC leader. Based on the order by the Supreme Court on April 28, the then acting chief justice of the Calcutta High Court reassigned two cases – Soumen Nandy versus the State of West Bengal and Ramesh Malik versus State of West Bengal, from the court of Justice Gangopadhyay to that of Justice Sinha. PTI DC BDC BDC