A special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday directed Chandranath Sinha, Bengal’s minister in charge of micro, small and medium enterprises and textiles, to appear in person and surrender on September 12 in response to an Enforcement Directorate summons.
The directive came within days of the ED submitting a chargesheet alleging Sinha’s role in the school recruitment “scam”.
On Wednesday, the central investigating agency submitted to the court a formal clearance from the Bengal governor, C.V. Ananda Bose, to submit the chargesheet against a state cabinet minister.
The governor’s nod is mandatory for proceeding further against Sinha as he is the appointing authority of a minister in the state cabinet, ED sources said.
“The court formally accepted the chargesheet during the day and instructed the agency to issue summons to the minister at his Bolpur residence,” a senior ED officer said. “Since the governor has given his formal clearance, there is no hurdle in issuing a summons to a sitting cabinet minister of the state.”
ED sources said that on September 12, when Sinha appears in court, the charges against him will be read out.
He is the second Trinamool MLA to be chargesheeted in this case involving alleged irregularities in recruitments in state-aided schools across Bengal, after former education minister Partha Chatterjee.
The chargesheet stated that Sinha was allegedly involved in receiving money from several aspirants in exchange for promises of jobs.
The central agency began a probe under the PMLA based on an FIR registered by the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch, Calcutta, on Calcutta High Court orders.
In March 2024, the ED carried out search and seizure operations at Sinha’s Bolpur residence, after his name surfaced in the case. Officers said some of the accused, including arrested Kuntal Ghosh and Prasanna Roy, had taken Sinha’s name.
“Over ₹40 lakh in cash was seized. The minister failed to clarify why such a sum was kept at his home,” an ED officer said.
Contacted on Wednesday evening, Sinha told The Telegraph: “The law will take its own course and I have full faith in the judiciary.”