Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee. , Photo Credit: PTI
Calcutta High Court Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Thursday asked central probe agencies to bring Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee under the purview of the recruitment scam.
Justice Gangopadhyay said in the open courtroom that Mr. Banerjee and Kuntal Ghosh should be interrogated together. Mr Ghosh, one of the accused in the case, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 21 for his alleged involvement in the scam. Over the past few days, Mr Ghosh, during appearances before courts, had alleged that central probe agencies were pressurizing him to name Mr Banerjee. The judge also referred to a speech by the TMC general secretary in which he had said that an attempt was made to implicate him in the Saradha chit fund scam.
During the hearing, Justice Gangopadhyay also said that no coercive action would be taken by the state police against the officials probing the recruitment scam. He had on several occasions directed probe by central agencies. Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation are probing the case and over a dozen accused, including former education minister Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya and several state education department officials and middlemen, are behind bars. Alleged involvement in crime. In September 2022, Justice Gangopadhyay said in an interview to a private television channel that “Mr. Banerjee should be jailed for three months for alleging collusion with the Bharatiya Janata Party by a section of the judiciary.
The TMC reacted sharply to the courtroom’s remarks. Party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “If you want to do politics, leave the chair.” He alleged that “Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay was targeting Abhishek Banerjee” and was attempting to character assassination of the Trinamool leader.
TMC MP Aparupa Poddar also took to social media and said she would not put up posters outside the judge’s house but challenged him to contest the Lok Sabha elections for 2024. The posters were put up outside the residence of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the Calcutta High Court and a three-judge bench is hearing a contempt petition in the matter.