Teachers recruitment ‘scam’: TMC minister Partha Chatterjee appears before CBI after failing to get relief from HC

Following the Division Bench upholding its order, the single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Wednesday again directed Chatterjee to appear before the CBI at the latter’s Nizam Palace office before 6 pm and said that he expected the minister to step down “in the interest of justice”.

The senior Trinamool Congress, who currently holds the portfolio of Commerce and Industries Ministry, then moved another Division Bench of the High Court for relief.

The Division Bench headed by Justice Harish Tandon, however, refused to hear the minister’s plea, saying that as the appeal has not been affirmed or filed in the registry of the court, the bench could not hear his prayer.

After failing to get relief, Chatterjee reached the CBI’s Nizam Palace office around 5:40 pm on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, a Division Bench of Justice Subrata Talukder and Justice A K Mukherjee, termed the “irregularities” in appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff by SSC as a “public scam” and said that the single bench of Justice Gangopadhyay was not wrong in ordering a probe into the alleged money trail involved.

The Division Bench said the orders of the single bench require no intervention.

On April 12, the single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had held that a five-member committee to oversee the appointment process for a 2016 panel for recruitment of teachers for classes 9 and 10 and group C and D staff in government-aided schools was illegal. He had then ordered Chatterjee, who was the education minister when the alleged appointments took place, to appear before the CBI the same day.

But Chatterjee got a stay from a division bench.

The single bench of Justice Gangopadhyay has till now passed seven orders directing CBI to enquire into the alleged irregularities in the appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff. Of these, one was in group C, two in group D appointments and four in teachers’ recruitment for classes 9 and 10.

All these orders were earlier stayed by the division bench on the basis of a series of appeals.

Speaking on the single bench order directing Chatterjee to appear before the CBI, advocate Sudipta Dasgupta said, “The single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered that Chatterjee will have to appear before the CBI by 6 pm today. The bench also gave liberty to the central investigating agency to arrest Chatterjee, if needed.”

The single bench had set up a committee headed by Ranjit Kumar Bagh, former judge of the Calcutta High Court, to probe into the alleged irregularities. The committee had found massive discrepancies and recommended criminal proceedings along with disciplinary proceedings against some incumbent and former officials of the School Service Commission who had recommended the alleged illegal appointments.

“The committee submitted its findings to the court and it was accepted by the court. On Wednesday, the division bench relegated the matter to the single bench for further directions. The division bench has also upheld the single bench’s order on terminating the illegal appointments,” said Arunava Banerjee, advocate and member of the Bagh committee.

Reacting to the development, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the party would not support the “wrongdoings” of a few people. “If the wrongdoings of a few persons cause so much trouble to students and job aspirants, the party will not support it. The law will take its course and the investigation will continue as per the direction of the court. Those who are involved in this have the freedom to fight the case legally. The Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) has the right to decide who will remain state ministers and the court cannot have a say on this. But our party will not support if some people are at fault,” said Ghosh.

Welcoming the court order, the BJP targeted the TMC for its alleged involvement in the scam.

“We welcome the court’s orders. This government and its ministers have no shame. They should have stepped down from respective posts taking moral responsibility. They steal public money and then move the court using taxpayers money to shield the corrupt persons. There has been a huge amount of corruption. If the CBI starts investigation, the entire illegal system will be revealed. We have full faith in the CBI and the court,” said BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari claimed that it is the “biggest scam” in the country post-Independence. “The entire state government has become corrupt. From top to bottom, everyone is involved in this scam. I will not comment on what the CBI should do or on the court’s order. I will only say that everyone involved must be probed,” said Adhikari.