Mamata Banerjee calls Partha Chatterjee 'Partha Da'. Chatterjee was one of the most prominent leaders of the Trinamool Congress.
Former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the School Service Commission scam. The politician on Friday said he was a victim of a conspiracy. The remark came after over Rs 50 crore was recovered from the flats of his associate Arpita Mukherjee. What is the WBSSC scam? What are the charges against him?
In 2016, Partha Chatterjee was the education minister of the state. Under SSC, a recruitment exam was organised for teaching and non-teaching posts. The exam was organised by the state's education department. The result was released in November 2017. Babita Sarkar topped the exam. However, WBSSC cancelled the merit list and in the new merit list, Babita Sarkar wasn't among the Top 20 aspirants. The name of Ankita Adhikari, the daughter of West Bengal minister Paresh Adhikari, was added to the list. This was done even when Sarkar got 77 marks whereas Adhikari received 61.
Babita Sarkar lodged a case in Calcutta High Court in 2017 against the injustice. The court formed a committee to probe the matter. It was headed by retired Justice Ranjeet Kumar Bagh. The panel later recommended action against officials of the West Bengal education department.
Acting on the panel's report, the High Court ordered the removal of Ankita Adhikari from the job and give it to Babita Kumari. Similar discrepancies were found in Group D recruitment. After Parth Chatterjee's name cropped up in the scam, the High Court ordered CBI to probe the case.
After this, the CBI questioned Partha Chatterjee twice this year -- on May 18 and May 25. When the money trail came to light, ED registered a case on June 24 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On July 22, 14 locations were raided. Most of these premises were linked to Chatterjee. ED recovered many important documents in these raids. Among them was the merit list related to the teachers' recruitment. The central agency also received documents of several properties in which Arpita Mukherjee was named.
After this, ED raided Mukherjee's house and other places from where Rs 50.36 crore in cash was recovered.
Mamata Banerjee calls Partha Chatterjee 'Partha Da'. Chatterjee was one of the most prominent leaders of the Trinamool Congress. He contested the election on a TMC ticket in 2001 and hasn't lost any assembly elections. In 2006, he was the Leader of the Opposition. He was a confidante of Mamata Banerjee.
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 "Partha Chatterjee with Arpita Mukherjee (File)")
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