Calcutta HC allows ED, CBI to question Abhishek Banerjee on Kuntal Ghosh's allegations

Kolkata, April 13

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday permitted the CBI and the ED to question Trinamool Congress' national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over the allegations levelled by expelled youth Trinamool leader Kuntal Ghosh that the central agencies are putting pressure on him to name Banerjee in the multi-crore teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal.

The high court's single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay also permitted the ED and the CBI to question Kuntal Ghosh in the matter if the central agencies feel that is necessary.

In a letter to a local police station on Wednesday, Ghosh, who is currently in judicial custody in connection with the recruitment scam, had alleged that the central agencies had been putting pressure on him to name senior Trinamool leaders, including Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, in the scam.

Earlier, Ghosh had forwarded a similar letter to the judge of a special court in Kolkata.

On Wednesday, the ED had approached the bench of Justice Gangopadhyay claiming that the allegations levelled by Ghosh were clear-cut attempts to influence the investigation into the recruitment scam.

While hearing ED's plea on Thursday, the single-judge bench authorised the CBI and the ED to question Ghosh and Banerjee in the matter if necessary.

Justice Gangopadhyay also referred to a public statement made by Abhishek Banerjee on March 29, wherein he alleged that during the investigation into the Saradha chit fund scam, the CBI had put pressure on party leaders like Madan Mitra to name him.

Incidentally, Ghosh had levelled the allegation of central agency's pressure tactic in a letter to the judge of a special court in Kolkata the very next day.

Justice Gangopadhyay noted on Thursday that there is a necessity to find out whether there was a link between the two developments.

On Wednesday, the same single-judge bench had put an interim stay on any action, either by the police or by the lower court, against the central agencies on the basis of Ghosh's complaint. Justice Gangopadhyay had also made some strong observations in the matter.

"This is a dangerous trend. The investigating officers are being threatened. These are clear-cut attempts to create hurdles for the investigation process. This has to be stopped for the sake of justice. Such over-smart attempts cannot be tolerated," he had observed on Wednesday.