A Calcutta High Court judge on Monday questioned why the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate had failed to collect enough evidence against the accused in the alleged school recruitment irregularities for a trial to start.
“For a proper investigation, the investigating agencies have to gather more and more evidence and proof against the accused. Even after a long time, both these agencies (the CBI and the ED) are praying for time from the courts to produce adequate evidence against the accused. To date, there is no result. How long can a court detain an accused for irregularities?” Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked.
He was hearing a bail plea by former Trinamul Congress youth leader Kuntal Ghosh, who is an accused in the alleged irregularities.
The judge said: “It seems the investigating agencies are not moving in the right direction. See Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the case. You ask him how he made so many properties and so much money even though he has no source of income. Why are you not asking him? Instead, you are seeking more time from the court to attach more and more of his properties.”
After going through the details of the investigation by the two agencies, Justice Bagchi said: “It seems the agencies are either incapable of conducting the probe or deliberately trying to save the accused.”
He asked: “The rate of success in any investigation depends on the evidence gathered against the accused. In Japan and Singapore, more than 80 per cent of the necessary evidence is gathered. Why are our investigating agencies lagging?”
The judge continued to criticise the central agencies: “It was the court that found out that there were gross irregularities during the recruitment of teachers in schools. The court has handed over the investigation of the cases to you. But what are the two agencies doing?”
Counsel for the CBI said they had submitted a chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet. “(But) a portion of the investigation is still left,” the lawyer said.
Bail petitions by two of the accused — Kuntal Ghosh and Niladri Ghosh — came up for hearing before Justice Bagchi during the day.
Counsel for Kuntal Ghosh submitted that nearly a year had passed since the arrest of his client. “There is an allegation against my client that he had taken money for recruitments. But no money has been seized from his possession," the lawyer said.
Counsel for Niladri Ghosh said his client had no direct link with the irregularities and there was no proof against him. “It was alleged that my client had taken Rs 2 lakh. But he has already returned the money. There is no direct link (of the case) with my client,” he said.
The judge deferred the hearing by three weeks and asked the CBI and the ED to produce affidavits showing adequate progress had been made in their inquiries.