West Bengal Teachers recruitment scam: Supreme Court refuses to interfere with ED probe against TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee

The recent developments in the West Bengal teacher recruitment scam have led to a setback for Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Based on a letter from Kuntal Ghosh, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had already summoned Abhishek Banerjee for questioning.

During his party's relentless campaign, he had been called for questioning before but had not appeared. Instead, the TMC's All India General Secretary filed a case in the Supreme Court, alleging harassment by the central investigation agencies. However, the Supreme Court has now refused to intervene in the matter.

During the hearing on Monday, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud stated that the ED has the authority to question anyone based on the irregularities in the illegal transactions. The difficulty lies in cooperating with the investigation.

Abhishek Banerjee's lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued in court that his client was being intentionally harassed and that his personal freedom was being violated. The Supreme Court, however, did not want to hear this argument.

Nevertheless, the court mentioned, "Abhishek Banerjee can file a new case if he wishes to." With this statement, the case was sent back to the Calcutta High Court.

Kuntal Ghosh, who had been arrested earlier in the teacher recruitment corruption case, had claimed in March that officials from the central investigation agency were pressurizing him to disclose Abhishek Banerjee's involvement.

Kuntal Ghosh had written a letter to the lower court judge in this regard. During a rally in Dharmatala, Abhishek Banerjee again accused the central investigation agency of pressurizing arrested individuals to implicate him.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had issued an order to question Abhishek Banerjee based on Kuntal Ghosh's letter. However, the case was later transferred to another bench based on a Supreme Court order, but Justice Amrita Sinha maintained the previous order.

Abhishek Banerjee has already been questioned by the ED before. The TMC alleges that there is a deliberate attempt to entangle Abhishek Banerjee while he is busy campaigning throughout West Bengal ahead of the panchayat elections.

The accusation is that the BJP is unable to gain a political foothold in West Bengal and is therefore attempting to seize power through the use of central agencies.

In response to these allegations, BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya stated that the BJP is not involved in this matter and that it is solely the predicament of the TMC, who have become entangled by writing a letter to Kuntal Ghosh.