Supreme Court Stays Fresh Probe Against TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya in Teacher’s Appointment Scam
Summary:
★The Supreme Court has stayed two orders of the Calcutta High Court that directed a fresh probe by the CBI and ED against Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya.
★The High Court had granted liberty to the investigative agencies to interrogate Bhattacharya in relation to the cash for jobs scam and take him into custody if necessary.
★The Apex Court held that Bhattacharya should not face further prejudice until the matter is decided by the Court.
★The Calcutta High Court had directed the investigation to be videographed and produced in Court on 3rd August, which prompted Bhattacharya’s urgent request to stay the orders.
★The Supreme Court observed that presenting the video of Bhattacharya’s interrogation in Court would cause him serious prejudice due to the large number of parties involved.
★The Top Court clarified that there would be no impediment in proceeding against other parties in the matter before the High Court.
★Last month, the Supreme Court had set aside the High Court’s interim order directing the West Bengal Board of Primary Education to conduct fresh selection for 32,000 teacher posts.
★The petition before the Supreme Court challenged the division bench’s stay on termination of 32,000 teachers and the direction for fresh selection.
★The Calcutta High Court had ordered termination and fresh selection due to gross illegality and corruption in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the Board.
★The former Education Minister, former President of the Board, and several middlemen involved in the sale of teaching positions are currently under investigation by the CBI and ED.
The Supreme Court has granted relief to Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya by staying two orders of the Calcutta High Court that had directed a fresh probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against him in connection with the teacher’s appointment scam. A Division Bench of Justice AS Bopanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar granted the relief after an urgent request was made by the petitioner before the Chief Justice.
The Calcutta High Court had granted liberty to the ED and CBI to interrogate Bhattacharya in relation to the cash for jobs scam and had allowed them to take him into custody if necessary. However, the Supreme Court held that no further prejudice should be caused to Bhattacharya until the matter is decided by the Court.
The High Court had also directed the investigation to be videographed and produced in Court on 3rd August. This prompted Bhattacharya’s urgent request to stay the orders, as presenting the video in Court would cause him serious prejudice due to the large number of parties involved in the proceedings.
The Supreme Court observed that Bhattacharya was not a party to the proceedings and had not been heard. Therefore, the Apex Court stayed the orders to protect his rights. However, the Court clarified that there would be no impediment in proceeding against the other parties in the matter before the High Court.
Last month, the Supreme Court had set aside the High Court’s interim order directing the West Bengal Board of Primary Education to conduct fresh selection for 32,000 teacher posts. The petition before the Supreme Court challenged the division bench’s stay on termination of 32,000 teachers and the direction for fresh selection. The High Court had ordered termination and fresh selection due to gross illegality and corruption in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the Board.
The former Education Minister, former President of the Board, and several middlemen involved in the sale of teaching positions are currently under investigation by the CBI and ED. The Supreme Court’s stay on the fresh probe against Bhattacharya does not impede the proceedings against the other parties in the matter before the High Court.
Diksha Rai, AOR, Adv. Kumarpal R. Chopra, Adv. Vishesh Kalra, Adv. Ragini Pandey, Adv. Arijit Dey appeared for Manik Bhattacharya.
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