Abhishek Banerjee has been summoned by the CBI
New Delhi:
Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) tomorrow for questioning in the alleged teachers’ recruitment scam hours after the Supreme Court gave him relief in the case.
Mr Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, got the CBI summons today just hours after the Supreme Court paused the investigation against him for alleged corruption in recruiting teachers.
“The CBI is trying to harass us by issuing summons for questioning despite the Supreme Court’s order,” Mr Banerjee said.
“In its desperation to ‘harass’ and ‘target’ me, BJP exposes CBI and ED to contempt of court. The SC (Supreme Court) stayed the Calcutta HC (high court) order in the morning that granted permission to the central agencies to summon me. Yet, the ‘summon’ was hand-delivered today at 1.45 pm. Grave State of affairs,” Mr Banerjee tweeted, along with a copy of the summons.
In its desperation to ‘harass’ and ‘target’ me, BJP EXPOSES CBI & ED to CONTEMPT OF COURT!
SC stayed the Calcutta HC’s order in the morn that granted permission to the Central Agencies to summon me.
Yet, the ‘SUMMON’ was HAND-DELIVERED today at 1:45 pm
Grave State of affairs! pic.twitter.com/p7wVT4Eycq
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) April 17, 2023
The CBI summons to Mr Banerjee – which is based on an order of the Calcutta High Court – is likely to add to the intense friction between opposition parties and the BJP-led centre over alleged misuse of central agencies to target them.
Just yesterday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI as a witness in a case of alleged corruption in framing a liquor policy.
Opposition leaders in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month accused his government of deliberately sending central agencies after them with false cases.
Later, PM Modi at a CBI event told the agency not to spare anyone in fighting corruption. “The country is with you,” PM Modi had said at the event in Delhi.
Before reports of the CBI summons to her nephew came today, Ms Banerjee said the centre tends to send the CBI and other agencies every time the opposition parties talk about unity for the national election 2024.
They want to show the Arvind Kejriwal matter as an example that “look, this is what you get,” Ms Banerjee said.
Former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested in July last year by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the teacher recruitment scam. The ED is following the money trail in the case. Several officers of the education department and some local Trinamool leaders are also in custody in connection with the case.
The CBI investigation came after some candidates who said they were denied jobs despite qualifying for the Teachers’ Eligibility Test in 2014 sought relief. The Calcutta High Court had also noted irregularities in appointments of teachers by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education.