West Bengal School Service Recruitment Scam is an ongoing education SSC scam in West Bengal, India since 2022.[1] The scam is being currently investigated jointly by Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate.[2] The scam was revealed, following the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, a Trinamool Congress leader, who has served as the Minister of Education in the Mamata Banerjee's cabinet until his arrest on 23 July 2022.[3]

Notice in compliance with the direction of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, dated 25.07.2023 in Diary no. 28088 of 2023 and diary no. 28468 of 2023 towards publishing the details of 907 candidates in connection with 1st SLST,2016 for class XI-XII

In compliance with the direction of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, dated 25.07.2023 in Diary no. 28088 of 2023 and diary no. 28468 of 2023, the details of 907 candidates in connection with 1st State level Selection Test for the posts of Assistant Teachers (except Hill Region), for classes XI –XII, 2016 has been published in the website of West Bengal Central School Service Commission.

Background

In November 2021, Calcutta High Court directed CBI to take charge of the investigation of the scam and find out the people who are accused in the scam. However, at that time, the Government of West Bengal went on to challenge the order before a division bench, which was rejected by the court.[4]

Following the order of the court under the bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, CBI went on to their investigation process starting from 2022, where they raided several places in West Bengal to proceed with the investigation. In May 2022, former TMC MLA and minister in the Mamata Banerjee's cabinet, Upendra Nath Biswas who has previously served as the CBI officer, investigating several scams, revealed about the SSC scam through his Facebook post.[5]

On 23 July 2022, ED arrested TMC leader, who is MLA from Behala Paschim, Partha Chatterjee, who has served as the Minister of Education in Mamata Banerjee cabinet and known as a close aide to her, after multiple interrogations.[6] Following his arrest, the house of his mistress,[7] a small Ollywood actress named Arpita Mukherjee was raided by ED on 23 July 2022, where in her South-West Kolkata apartment, INR 21 crores in cash, along with jewelleries worth INR 50 lakhs and 70 lakhs respectively. She was immediately taken into custody by ED.[8][9] However, Mukherjee claimed in front of media that Chatterjee was using her house for keeping the money and she doesn't knew about it.[10] Following the next day, ED raided another apartment of Mukherjee, situated in Belghoria, in North Kolkata, where they recovered more 27.90 crore INR in cash, along with 6 kg of gold.[11]

Following the arrest of Chatterjee, he was brought to ESI Hospital, located in Joka in South Kolkata, on the same day, for the medical test.[12] But, he was admitted to SSKM Hospital, in Kolkata, as he was complaining of chest pain. But ED officers requested to the Bankshall Court for allowing to admit Chatterjee in the Command Hospital, instead of in SSKM.[13] A petition also was filed in the court for taking Chatterjee to Bhubaneswar for treatment in AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, which was granted by the court.[14][15]

On 10 August 2022, CBI arrested Shanti Prasad Sinha, who has been appointed as convenor of special advisory committee formed by Chatterjee for the appointments in SSC, along with Ashok Saha, who was the secretary of West Bengal State School Service Commission, after interrogation, in Kolkata.[16]

On 15 September 2022, CBI arrested Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, who was the chairman of the WBBSE, following several interrogations.[17]

On 19 September 2022, CBI arrested Subiresh Bhattacharya, who has also served previously as the West Bengal School Service Commission, and was serving as the Vice-Chancellor of University of North Bengal. He was reported to be not cooperating with the agency in order to proceed with further investigations.[18]

On 11 October 2022, ED arrested another TMC MLA from Palashipara, Manik Bhattacharya, who was the present chairman of West Bengal SSC Committee.[19][20]

Gradually, two local TMC youth leaders, Kuntal Ghosh and Shantanu Bandyopadhyay were also arrested in the case.[21][22]

On 17 April 2023, after several interrogations, CBI arrested another TMC legislator Jiban Krishna Saha, who is MLA from Burwan, Murshidabad, who tried to run from his house and thrown his mobile phone in the pond.[23][24]

On 28 April 2023, the Supreme Court directed to move the case hearings of the scam from the bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to Justice Amrita Sinha[25] after Justice Gangopadhyay discussed about the case in an interview he gave to the Bengali newschannel ABP Ananda, in which he declared his intention to prosecute Diamond Harbour MP, TMC general secretary & Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee (whose involvement was being alleged by the state BJP unit but no proof in this regard had been made public by investigative agencies till then) in this matter. CJI D. Y. Chandrachud took strong exception of Justice Gangopadhyay's interview & stated that judges have no business granting interviews to the media on pending matters.[26]

On 20 May 2023, Abhishek Banerjee was interrogated by ED in Kolkata.[27][28]

On 30 May 2023, Sujay Krishna Bhadra, who is popularly known as 'Kalighater Kaku' was arrested after repeated interrogations done since January 2023.[29]

On 28 June 2023, Bengali actress & president of TMC's student wing Saayoni Ghosh was summoned by ED in connection with the scam.[30] However, she fled from her South Kolkata residence and no one had able to trace her.[31]

On 30 June 2023, Saayoni Ghosh appeared before ED officials in the probe and also said that she will appear again if they want to interrogate again.[32] On 5 July 2023, she was summoned again for interrogation.

Reactions

On 28 July 2022, Chatterjee was suspended from Trinamool Congress, due to the allegations against him. He was also removed from the ministerial posts, which he was holding in Mamata Banerjee's cabinet. Senior spokesperson of TMC, former Member of Parliament Kunal Ghosh demanded action against Chatterjee, making the TMC leadership distance themselves from the scam.[33][34]

Soon after the suspension of Chatterjee from the party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Indian National Congress leaders reacted to the decision. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari criticized Banerjee and TMC for using government event for political purposes, and also claimed that Banerjee might be involved in the scam as well and she can't distance herself from the scam. CPM leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said that Banerjee is trying to make distance herself from the scam, but it's too late now, she would be caught soon.[35] Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded removal of Chatterjee from the ministerial post and party posts he was holding during his arrest by ED, after interrogation.[36]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Explained: What is the West Bengal School Service Commission recruitment scam?". The Indian Express. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Kolkata: Besides CBI, ED to probe Bengal SSC Recruitment scam". The Economic Times. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "ED arrests Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, finds link to money seized at close aide Arpita's house". India Today. 23 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "What is SSC scam? Latest 'CBI headache' for Mamata govt despite 3-week relief from HC". The Print. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "শিক্ষক নিয়োগ নিয়ে বিস্ফোরক মন্তব্য, রাজ্যের প্রাক্তন মন্ত্রীর পুরনো ফেসবুক পোস্ট ঘিরে চাঞ্চল্য!". bengali.abplive.com (in Bengali). 22 May 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "Teacher recruitment scam: Bengal mantri Partha Chatterjee arrested after 20-hour ED quizzing". The Times of India.
  7. ↑ "বুকে হৃদয় এঁকে দেখালেন পার্থ, মুচকি হেসে জবাব দিলেন অর্পিতাও, ভার্চুয়াল শুনানিতে 'অপা'র প্রেম".
  8. ↑ "₹28 cr cash, 5 kg gold found at Arpita Mukherjee's house after ED's 18-hr raid". Hindustan Times. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ↑ "Who is Arpita Mukherjee, who has been arrested by ED?". Indian Express. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Arpita Mukherjee claims Partha Chatterjee used her house as 'mini bank': Reports". Mint. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "WBSSC scam: Arpita Mukherjee makes BIG confession to ED about Belgharia residence". Zee News. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "Partha Chatterjee Arrest: সাসপেন্সে ইতি, পার্থ চট্টোপাধ্যায়কে নিয়ে জোকা ইএসআই হাসপাতালে ইডি". News18 Bangla (in Bengali). 23 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "Remanded in ED custody, WB Minister Partha Chatterjee taken to SSKM hospital after complaining of chest pain". The Print. 23 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "Jailed Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee back in ED office after AIIMS Bhubaneswar says all good". Hindustan Times. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  15. ↑ "Shift Partha Chatterjee to AIIMS in Bhubaneswar, orders court in setback to Mamata's minister". India Today. 24 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "Bengal SSC scam: CBI makes first arrests; two top officials nabbed". Hindustan Times. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  17. ↑ "Bengal school jobs scam: Ex-head of Secondary Education Board arrested by CBI". The Indian Express. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  18. ↑ "CBI arrests former West Bengal SSC chairman Subiresh Bhattacharya in recruitment scam". The Indian Express. 19 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  19. ↑ "ED arrests TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya in Bengal education scam". India Today. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  20. ↑ "West Bengal: ED arrests primary board ex-chief Manik Bhattacharya in cash-for-jobs scam". The Times of India. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  21. ↑ "ED arrests TMC youth wing leader Kuntal Ghosh in Bengal teacher recruitment scam". The Indian Express. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  22. ↑ "ED arrests fifth TMC leader Shantanu Banerjee in Bengal job scam case". Hindustan Times. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  23. ↑ "CBI arrests third TMC legislator in Bengal recruitment scam". Hindustan Times. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "Bengal teachers' recruitment scam: TMC MLA Jiban Krishna Saha arrested after 65-hour CBI questioning". India Today. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  25. ↑ "Justice Abhijit Ganguly: 'বিচারপতি গঙ্গোপাধ্যায় আমাদের ভগবান, ওনাকে ফেরাতে হবে', পথে নামার হুঁশিয়ারি চাকরি প্রার্থীদের". TV9 Bangla (in Bengali). 28 April 2023.
  26. ↑ Balaji, R. "Supreme Court shifts case over judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay's interview". www.telegraphindia.com.
  27. ↑ "कड़ी सुरक्षा के बीच CBI के सामने पेश हुए अभिषेक बनर्जी, स्कूल भर्ती घोटाला मामले में पूछताछ". Hindustan. 20 May 2023.
  28. ↑ "Bengal jobs scam: CBI grills Abhishek Banerjee; ED conducts raids in Kolkata". Hindustan Times. 20 May 2023.
  29. ↑ "গ্রেফতার 'কালীঘাটের কাকু', ১১ ঘণ্টা জেরার পর অভিষেকের অফিসের প্রাক্তন কর্মী ইডির জালে". Anandabazar Patrika. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  30. ↑ "Bengal teacher recruitment scam: ED summons TMC youth president Saayoni Ghosh". The Indian Express. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  31. ↑ "ইডির নোটিস পাওয়ার পর স্রেফ উবে গিয়েছেন সায়নী! তাঁর সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ করতে পারছেন না দলের নেতারাও". Anandabazar Patrika. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  32. ↑ "Saayoni Ghosh appears before ED official in school job scam probe". Economic Times. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  33. ↑ "Trinamool Congress suspends Partha Chatterjee from party". The Hindu. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  34. ↑ "Partha Chatterjee, arrested in SSC scam, sacked as West Bengal cabinet minister". Hindustan Times. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  35. ↑ "Opposition targets Mamata Banerjee over SSC 'anomalies'". The Telegraph. 26 July 2022.
  36. ↑ "Adhir writes to Mamata for Partha's ouster from her cabinet". The Telegraph. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
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