The second year of Trinamool Congress’s third consecutive term in West Bengal is not off to a good start as four of its leaders, including two ministers, are being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for their connection in separate cases.
Minister for Industry, Commerce and Parliamentary Affairs (and former state education minister) Partha Chatterjee was questioned by the CBI about an alleged ‘scam’ regarding recruitments in government-aided schools. He was interrogated for nearly four hours on Wednesday about how the recruitments were done ignoring legal provisions for the process. Chatterjee was questioned because he was the education minister at the time the alleged scam occurred.
A Division Bench is likely to hear the case on Friday.
Minister of State for Education Paresh Adhikary was directed on Tuesday by Calcutta High Court to appear before the CBI, as the court had ordered a CBI inquiry while hearing a petition concerning irregularities in teachers’ recruitment. After Adhikary joined the ruling party, his daughter’s name made it to a waitlist for recruitment.
Adhikary, who was to take a train from the northern part of the state on Tuesday evening, didn’t reach the CBI office in Kolkata on Wednesday. On Thursday, the court ordered him to appear before the CBI by 3 pm. However, Adhikary apprised the court that he was still in north Bengal and would take a flight to Kolkata in the evening. The court then ordered that he be taken directly to the CBI office as soon as he landed. Adhikary finally reached the CBI office on Thursday evening.
TMC MLA Paresh Pal appeared before the CBI in Kolkata on Wednesday in a case related to post-election violence and murder. TMC’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal had to appear before the CBI on Thursday as part of the bureau’s investigation into a cattle smuggling case.