School Jobs Scam: Calcutta HC Orders Issuance Of Notice To West Bengal Chief Secretary

School Jobs Scam: Calcutta HC Orders Issuance Of Notice To West Bengal Chief Secretary

The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the issuance of notice to the West Bengal chief secretary over the grant of sanction for the prosecution of some accused people in the alleged school jobs scam case, in which several political leaders in the state including former minister Partha Chatterjee have been taken into custody.

The court while hearing bail pleas of former public servants, directed the chief secretary to submit a report before it within a timeline during which he proposes to take a decision “independently” on the matter.

A division bench presided by Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed that notice be issued to the state’s chief secretary, observing that a delay in the decision-making on the grant of sanction of prosecution of the accused is a “matter of serious regret”.

The chief secretary was directed to file the report on April 3, when the bail applicants over their arrest by the CBI in connection with the central agency’s high court-ordered investigation into the school jobs scam will come up for hearing again.

The court was jointly hearing the bail prayers of the state’s former education minister Partha Chatterjee, former secretary of West Bengal School Service Commission Ashok Saha, ex-president of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Kalyanmoy Ganguly and former SSC chairman Subires Bhattacharyya.

During the bail plea hearing, the petitioners’ counsels emphasised that their clients have been in custody for over a year, with investigations concluded.

It was pointed out that the prosecution is stalled due to the lack of sanction from the appropriate authorities.

In view of the submission, the court had earlier directed the CBI director to take up the matter of grant of sanction with the appropriate authorities.

Responding to earlier court directions, Additional Solicitor General Ashoke Chakraborti, representing the CBI director, informed the court that the governor of West Bengal has granted sanction to prosecute former minister Partha Chatterjee.

However, despite repeated requests, the state’s chief secretary is yet to decide on granting the sanction to prosecute other former public servants like Ashok Saha, Subiresh Bhattacharya, and Kalyanmoy Ganguly, he submitted.

The court noted that the West Bengal Assembly Speaker has granted sanction to prosecute Jiban Krishna Saha, an MLA of the ruling party.

The court also noted that a conspiracy was alleged to have been hatched between the minister-in-charge and the heads of the School Service Commission and others to tamper with the selection process results and appoint undeserving persons to public posts.

“Allegation of corruption and that too in high places is a serious threat to rule of law and confidence in public administration,” the bench, also comprising Justice Gaurang Kanth, observed.

(With agency inputs)