12 Kolkata: CBI has received the approval of governor CV Ananda Bose for prosecuting former education minister Partha Chatterjee in the school recruitment scam case. The agency submitted a copy of the approval received on Dec 31 with the special CBI court.
The governor granted the prosecution sanction against Chatterjee by invoking Article 163(2) of the Constitution and Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. CBI had earlier termed Chatterjee as the "prime suspect" in the recruitment scam. Calcutta High Court last week rejected Chatterjee's bail prayer.
"The entire procedure of praying straight to the governor is unconstitutional. First, they should have approached the speaker of the legislative assembly... It may be an easy strategy for them, but that undermines the due process," said Chatterjee's lawyer Biplab Goswami.