Why not arrest bribe-givers, judge in CBI Court-I asks

A city court on Thursday asked the CBI why the agency was not arresting or questioning the candidates or their guardians who had allegedly paid bribes to get jobs in government-aided schools across Bengal.

The judge in the CBI Court-I in Alipore asked the question when former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and other accused in the illegal appointment case were produced in the court.

The accused who were produced along with Chatterjee were Kalyanmoy Ganguly,  former president of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education; Ashoke Kumar Saha, former school service commission secretary; Santi Prasad Sinha, former advisor to the SSC; and Subiresh Bhattacharya, former vice-chancellor of North Bengal University and former chairman of the SSC. 

Lawyers involved in the case said the judge asked CBI representatives why the agency was not arresting or interrogating guardians or the candidates who had allegedly paid bribes for jobs.

The judge referred to a specific person, who the CBI said was a candidate’s father, and asked whether the person was interrogated. CBI lawyers said the person was questioned. The judge then asked for the case diary. 

The court on Thursday extended the judicial remand of Chatterjee and the four co-accused till February 16.

The court in its order said: “From the CD (case diary) and as per the discussion made herein above, I can state that there are prima facie materials against all the accused persons and as such prayer for bail in respect of the accused person should be rejected and as such the same is rejected at this stage.”

The court also instructed the investigating officer to take “prompt actions” to uncover the money trail.

When the court asked about the progress of the probe, a CBI representative said that even if the progress appeared slow now, the investigation would definitely speed up.