The CBI filed four chargesheets in an Alipore court on Monday alleging that former Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee was involved in irregularities in recruitments in government-aided schools at various levels, officers in the investigating agency said.
According to the chargesheets, Chatterjee was involved in alleged corruption in recruitment of assistant teachers for Classes IX to XII as well as non-teaching staff in government-aided schools.
Two of the chargesheets deal with the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of assistant teachers for Classes IX and X, and for Classes XI and XII. A chargesheet each deals with the allegedly illegal appointment of Group C and D staff.
“Apart from Chatterjee, who has been in custody since his arrest in July 2022, the chargesheet on the recruitment of Group C staff mentions a bureaucrat in the education department as an accused,” a CBI officer said.
Other than the former minister, six persons allegedly played a key role in the recruitment of assistant teachers for Classes IX and X, a chargesheet mentions.
Trinamul MLA Jiban Krishna Saha has been arrested in this case, the officials said.
“Three witnesses have been named as accused in one of the chargesheets,” a CBI officer said without going into the details. “A few agents who collected money from job aspirants and handed them to the accused have also been mentioned in a chargesheet.”
The four chargesheets, which are being called final chargesheets, were filed a day before the two-month period granted by the Supreme Court to the CBI to wrap up the investigation would come to an end.
The apex court, while issuing the deadline in November, also directed Calcutta High Court to set up a special division bench for speedy disposal of the cases.
On December 6, the special bench of the high court directed the CBI to submit its final investigation report by January 9.
Senior CBI officers said they had always maintained that Chatterjee was the key accused in the recruitment cases.
“When Chatterjee was last produced in the Alipore court (on January 3), we clearly said that the former minister was the kingpin in the case and was in direct contact with middlemen,” said a senior CBI officer.
“The investigation so far suggests he used his influence to involve officials to be part of the alleged racket.”
The agency is likely to submit its final report in the high court on Tuesday and seek time to look into some remaining aspects in the case that the probe has not been able to cover so far.