Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe into charges that Tehatta's Trinamul MLA Tapas Saha collected Rs 5 crore from people against false assurances of jobs.
A petition was moved before Justice Rajasekhar Mantha's bench alleging that Nadia district police did not take proper steps against Saha despite repeated complaints from several persons that Saha extorted money from them while promising them government jobs. The petitioners prayed for a CBI probe.
On Tuesday, the central agency expressed its desire to start a probe. However, advocate general S.N. Mukherjee, representing the state, opposed the CBI plea and said the anti-corruption branch of the state police was probing the matter.
After hearing both sides, Justice Mantha ordered the case be transferred to the CBI. He directed the anti-corruption branch of the Bengal police to hand over all documents to the CBI within 10 days.
"The transfer of the case wouldn't have been necessary had the ACB done its job. The ACB's report says Saha's letterhead was used to extort money. The matter is not just about recruitment in schools. It includes illegal recruitment in schools, fire brigade, ICDS and group D category of the CMO," said Tarunjyoti Tiwari, a BJP leader and the petitioners' lawyer.
Reportedly, in July 2022, Prabir Koyal, a close aide of Saha, collected lump sums against promises of government jobs. The police arrested three persons, including Koyal. During interrogation, Koyal confessed he gave Saha a big sum of money.
The order comes a day after Trinamul's Burwan MLA Jiban Krishna Saha was arrested by the CBI in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam.
Three Trinamul MLAs — Partha Chatterjee, Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha — have been arrested in connection with the recruitment scam.
Trinamul tried to put on a brave face. Joyprakash Majumdar, a party vice-president, questioned the CBI's success rate.
"The court is ordering CBI probes in almost all cases. They (the CBI personnel) need to show results. What is their success rate?" he asked.
Govt papers 'burnt'
Several government documents were allegedly set on fire at Bhangar in South 24-Parganas on Tuesday morning.
CBI officers tried to recover whatever was left of the papers, which included those related to "recruitment scams", sources said.
The CBI summoned Rakesh Roy Chowdhury, the owner of the plot in Bhangar's Andul-Garia area, where the papers were burnt, for questioning.
Speaker to CBI
Speaker Biman Banerjee on Tuesday said he wrote to the head and DIG of the CBI's anti-corruption branch in Calcutta, asking why, contrary to rules, the Assembly was not immediately told about the arrest of Burwan MLA Jiban Krishna Saha. The Speaker said the Burwan MLA was arrested early on Monday but the House was informed on Tuesday evening.
