Kolkata, Sep 12 (IANS) The process of framing charges against a total of 28 accused individuals in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-registered cases in the alleged multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) scam was completed at a special CBI court here on Friday.
The case in which the charge-framing process was completed on Friday was in relation to irregularities in the recruitment of non-teaching staff in the “Group-C” category. The main name of the individuals against whom the process of charge-framing was completed on Friday was former West Bengal education minister and ex-Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee.
To recall, on Thursday, the process of charge-framing was completed in another case also registered by CBI in the WBSSC scam, and that case was relating to irregularities in the recruitment of secondary and high-secondary teachers.
On Friday, Partha Chatterjee attended the proceedings at the special CBI court virtually. After the judge of the special court informed him that the process of charge framing in this particular case has been completed, Chatterjee sought permission to speak and pleaded that he was innocent in the case.
“The central investigative agencies are out to take revenge against me. I have social respect. It is the responsibility of the court to protect that.” Chatterjee pleaded.
He continued, saying that he had been behind bars for the last three and a half years. “I am a doctor. I will have no faith in the judicial system if developments continue like this. Please set me free. I have never recommended anyone for a job, Chatterjee pleaded.
The judge of the special court asked Chatterjee to speak when the time of his witnesses at the court would come, and also reminded him of how he changed officers in the state education department to suit convenience.
Among those against whom the framing of charges has been completed, Partha Chatterjee is the one who had been behind the bars for his involvement in the school-job case for the longest period.
He was arrested in July 2022 from his residence by the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had been conducting a parallel probe in the school job cases. Later, he was also arrested by the CBI.
Recently, he was granted bail by different courts in almost all the cases registered against him, both by CBI and ED, in the alleged WBSSC scam. Yet, he could not manage himself out of judicial custody, because of separate cases registered against him relating to irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers appointed by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE).
–IANS
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