Calcutta High Court Slams Special CBI Judge, Orders Transfer
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday slammed Special CBI Judge Arpan Chatterjee for "acting detrimental" to the CBI and ED probe into the West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam, and ordered his immediate transfer.
Calcutta High Court Slams Special CBI Judge, Orders Transfer
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday slammed Special CBI Judge Arpan Chatterjee for "acting detrimental" to the CBI and ED probe into the West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam and ordered his immediate transfer.
In a recent development, the Calcutta High Court has ordered the transfer of special CBI court judge Arpan Chatterjee, who was presiding over the West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam case. The transfer is slated to take place by October 4, although the state's Law Minister, Malay Ghatak, has requested a two-day extension until October 6 to comply with the court's order. His appeal for an extension is due to his hospitalization, which has prevented him from processing the necessary paperwork, as reported by a news agency.
This decision to transfer Judge Arpan Chatterjee comes in response to concerns raised by the lawyer representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI had presented four individuals as witnesses in the recruitment case, but the CBI court, under Judge Chatterjee's jurisdiction, had taken the unusual step of sending them to judicial custody, refusing to acknowledge them as witnesses.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court, according to a report by the Times of India, ruled that individuals willing to provide testimony under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code should not be subject to arrest.
The West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam is a massive scandal that has rocked the state's education system. The scam is alleged to have involved the payment of bribes to politicians and officials in order to secure jobs as teachers and staff at government-run schools.
The scam came to light in 2022, when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched an investigation into the matter. The investigation revealed that job aspirants were paying bribes in the range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh to secure jobs, even after failing the selection tests.
The CBI has alleged that more than Rs 100 crore was raised by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders from job aspirants between 2014 and 2021. The agency has also arrested several high-profile TMC leaders, including former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and former West Bengal Board of Primary Education president Manik Bhattacharya. This was reported in law portals like LiveLaw, Bar and Bench.
The West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam has prompted these legal proceedings involving the alleged irregular appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021. The appointees are suspected of having paid substantial bribes, ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, to secure these positions despite failing the selection tests.
According to the CBI's investigation, TMC (Trinamool Congress) leaders purportedly collected over Rs 100 crore from job aspirants in exchange for employment as teachers and staff at state-run schools throughout West Bengal between 2014 and 2021.
The various investigative agencies and the West Bengal Primary Education Board will file their respective reports by the 18th of October.