Partha Chatterjee was arrested by ED after 26 hours of questioning and recovery of over Rs 21 crore in cash at a close aide's property.
A day after senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the TMC on Sunday demanded a time-bound investigation in the case, while asserting it will not interfere politically if any leader was found to have done anything wrong.
Chatterjee is an accused in the alleged West Bengal teachers recruitment scam that took place when he was the education minister during 2014-21. It is alleged that illegal recruitment took place, people with lower marks ranked high in the merit list, and that Chatterjee took money to give jobs to people.
Chatterjee was arrested after 26 hours of questioning by the ED and recovery of cash totalling in excess of Rs 21 crore from a property of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Chatterjee. The raid at Mukherjee's property was part of multiple ED raids at various places in West Bengal as part of their probe into the money trail involved in a teacher recruitment scam at government-sponsored and -aided schools.
TMC Spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that that it had no connection with Mukherjee from whose possession the huge amount of cash was recovered.
"The party demands time-bound investigation in the case," said Ghosh, maintaining that investigations by central agencies in some cases have been going on for many years.
The CBI has been investigating the multi-crore Saradha chit fund case since 2014, while the Narada tapes case, which unfolded ahead of 2016 elections, was also yet to reach any conclusion.
Ghosh said that the delay in completion of probe processes was not acceptable and that Opposition parties "will use it as a tool to cast aspersions" against the TMC.
"If the ED produces any proof of its allegations and the court accepts it, the TMC and the government will initiate steps against any leader, however big he may be," Ghosh said, adding that the law will take its own course.
Referring to some videos doing the rounds of Mukherjee at programmes that were also attended by Chatterjee and other ministers, authenticity of which has not been checked by PTI, the spokesperson insisted that many people from different walks of life attend political and social events.
He added, "But this woman is in no way related to Trinamool Congress. It is not a matter of TMC. It is the responsibility of those whose names have come up or their lawyer to speak on the issue, the party has no relation with it."
Alleging that TMC leaders were being targeted, Ghosh claimed that Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim was arrested by the CBI in 2021 in the Narada sting tapes case, but no action was taken against Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who is also an accused in the matter.
"Does it mean being in BJP makes one above the law?" he asked.
Training his guns on the CPI(M), Ghosh alleged that several irregularities were committed during the 34-year Left Front rule, but none received prominence as there were fewer media houses and no social media.
He said, "You (CPIM) were no holy cow. It cannot be that you will attack TMC and it will take it like a sitting duck."
Ghosh also accused the Congress of double standards, claiming that it appreciated the ED in West Bengal, and attacked the same agency when leaders Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi are questioned.
The Calcutta High Court has directed the CBI to inquire into recommendations by the state's School Service Commission (SSC) vide which alleged illegal appointments were given by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in government-run and -aided schools. While CBI is investigating the criminal aspects, the ED is following the money trail and investigating money laundering aspects of the case.
It has been reported that TMC has distanced itself from Chatterjee, particularly after the recovery of piles of cash at Mukherjee's property.
CNN-News 18 reported, "It [TMC] could have used this opportunity to bolster its allegation of the BJP using central agencies for political vendetta, but the alleged seizure of Rs 20 crore in cash from the premises of a close aide of West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee has pushed the Trinamool Congress on the back foot."
It also noted that Chatterjee's arrest and recovery of Rs 20 crore comes as an embarrassment to TMC at a time when it's not just taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party but is also carving a greater role within the Opposition by challenging the traditional Congress leadership and carving its own way.
(With PTI inputs)