CBI, ED should question Abhishek Banerjee in job scam case: Calcutta HC judge
The judge observed that since Kuntal Ghosh, one of the prime accused, and Abhishek Banerjee made similar allegations, they should be questioned together.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) should question Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the bribe-for-job scam, Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay observed on Thursday, according to lawyers who attended the hearing.
The judge was hearing a written complaint filed by former TMC youth wing leader Kuntal Ghosh, one of the prime accused, alleging that officers of the two federal agencies were pressuring him to name Abhishek in his statement.
“Justice Gangopadhyay also said no police complaint and first information report (FIR) can be lodged against any officer of the ED and CBI at any police station in West Bengal in connection with this case,” said lawyer Firdous Samim, who is representing victims of the job scam in the state school education department.
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Ghosh, arrested by the ED on January 21, is lodged at Presidency correctional home in Kolkata. He filed the complaint at the court and the city’s Hastings police station on April 6.
Banerjee made a similar allegation, without naming Ghosh, at a TMC meeting in Kolkata on March 29.
The judge observed that since Ghosh and Banerjee made similar allegations, they should be questioned together.
Samim said: “He wanted to know the identity of those meeting Ghosh at the Presidency correctional home. He ordered the state government to submit before him the visitors register and footage recorded by security cameras at the correctional home between March 23 and April 6.”
The judge wants these records to be placed before him by April 20, Samim added.
Meanwhile, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh reacted sharply to the judge’s comments.
“Justice Gangopadhyay is a respected citizen but is misusing his chair. He has turned into a cadre of a political party only to seek publicity. He has targeted Abhishek Banerjee and the TMC,” Kunal Ghosh said, hinting at opposition parties.
