The lawyer of Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday accused the CBI of going on a “fishing expedition” to harass his client after it came to light that the central probe agency in its supplementary chargesheet in the school job ‘scam’ case has referred to one “Abhishek Banerjee” demanding Rs 15 crore for illegal appointments.
In its third supplementary chargesheet submitted to the court on February 21, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) mentioned one ‘Abhishek Banerjee’ but did not specify his identity.
Referring to an audio clip of an alleged conversation between accused Kuntal Ghosh and Sujay Krishna Bhadra – both are currently out on bail – the CBI stated: “Abhishek Banerjee had demanded Rs 15 crore for illegal appointment already made, and when Sujay Krishna Bhadra expressed his inability to collect more money since the candidates had already paid Rs 6.50 lakh each, then Abhishek Banerjee told Sujay to stop their appointment else he would get those candidates arrested or get the candidates posted at distant places.”
The central agency claimed that the meeting was held in 2017 at Bhadra’s Behala residence” where accused Kuntal Ghosh, Shantanu Banerjee and two others, Aurobindo Roy Barman and Surajit Chanda, were also present. “At the insistence of Kuntal Ghosh, his staff Aurobindo Roy Barman had recorded the conversation on his mobile phone and later transferred the audio file to his laptop which was later recovered during investigation,” the CBI said.
In the chargesheet, the CBI said, “From the said conversation it has been revealed that during the said meeting, accused Kuntal Ghosh, Santanu Banerjee and Sujay Krishna Bhadra discussed about the modus operandi of collection of bribes from undeserving candidates and getting them illegally appointed by manipulating the result and filing a case before the High Court and getting favourable orders. It has also been revealed that the illegal appointments were secured by Kuntal Ghosh, Santanu Banerjee and Sujay Krishna through accused Partha Chatterjee, the then Education Minister.”
“It has further been revealed from the conversation that there was a rift between Abhishek Banerjee and accused Partha Chatterjee on the issue of illegal appointment… It is also revealed that Sujay Krishna Bhadra, Santanu Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh were planning collection of bribe amount from additional 2,000 candidates for their appointment, to the tune of Rs 100 crores to pay off Partha Chatterjee, Abhishek Banerjee and Manik Bhattacharya at Rs 20 crore each, and sharing of the remaining amount among themselves,” the CBI chargesheet stated.
The 28-page chargesheet indicts Bhadra alias ‘Kalighater Kaku’ (uncle of Kalighat) and two others in connection with irregular appointments of teachers in state-run primary schools made through the selection process of Teachers Eligibility Test (TET), 2014. The CBI identified Bhadra as the Chief Operating Officer of M/S Leaps and Bounds Private Limited. Previously, the ED had named TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee as the CEO of the company who had also remained one of its directors for a limited period.
Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour, has already appeared before central probe agencies – the ED and the CBI – multiple times and faced questioning in connection with the alleged recruitment irregularities.
In a statement released on behalf of Abhishek Banerjee, his lawyer Sanjay Basu said the CBI’s “politically motivated narrative” was a “blatant attempt to tarnish” my client’s reputation.
“Despite my client’s full cooperation with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) – appearing whenever summoned and providing all necessary documents – the CBI has resorted to baseless allegations. Notably, the ED, responsible for investigating alleged proceeds of crime, has not filed any chargesheet against my client, underscoring the absence of incriminating material against him,” the TMC MP’s lawyer said.
“The alleged third supplementary chargesheet is nothing more than a fishing expedition aimed at harassing my client. The CBI has failed to provide a shred of corroborative evidence, with no supporting documents appended to its claims. This is yet another instance of my client being unjustly targeted. Previously, the ED attempted to implicate Abhishek Banerjee, but the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court ruled against it, finding no material evidence,” the statement added.
“After failing through the ED, political forces have turned to the CBI, misusing central agencies to push their agenda. This latest chargesheet is a desperate bid to create suspicion despite the glaring lack of evidence… By inserting unverified statements into a case concerning others, the agency has raised serious concerns about the fairness of its investigation,” the lawyer said. “Abhishek Banerjee remains resolute in his pursuit of truth and justice. He will not be intimidated by these baseless allegations and will fight relentlessly to expose this conspiracy, safeguard his integrity, and ensure justice prevails,” the statement concluded.
Last year May, the Supreme Court stayed the order of the Calcutta High Court order invalidating appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) in the state-run and state-aided schools, saying “it would be unfair to set aside all the appointments if the tainted and untainted ones can be segregated”.
The Supreme Court, however, termed the recruitment scam a “systemic fraud” and said the state authorities were duty-bound to maintain the digitised records pertaining to the appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff.