Days after West Bengal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged school jobs scam, state Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Tuesday demanded a time-bound probe into it.
He hoped that the truth would be out soon. Banerjee also stated that the arrest of Chatterjee will not have any adverse impact on parliamentary affairs of the state assembly.
"I don't think that the arrest will have any adverse impact on the parliamentary affairs of the West Bengal Assembly. If someone falls sick or is absent, it won't stop the functioning of the state government or the House.
"But I think there should be a time-bound probe into the matter. It is unacceptable that the investigation would continue for years. I am hopeful that the truth would come out soon," Banerjee said.
Without naming anyone, the Assembly Speaker also dug at opposition parties for mocking Chatterjee over his arrest. "Those who are laughing today may not laugh tomorrow. I have doubts about this episode (investigation into school jobs scam)," he said.
The ruling TMC had on Sunday also demanded a time-bound investigation in the ED case against the minister, while asserting that the party would not interfere politically if any leader was found to have done anything wrong.
Chatterjee, also the state industry and commerce minister, was arrested by the ED on July 23 in connection with its investigation into the alleged teacher recruitment irregularities at government-sponsored and-aided schools.
He was the education minister when the school jobs scam took place. A woman, claimed to be Chatterjee's close aide, was also arrested by the central agency after crores of rupees in cash were allegedly recovered from her residence. PTI could not independently verify the information.
(With PTI inputs)
