Kolkata, April 21 (). A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to initiate a probe into the multi-crore scam in the recruitment of employees and clerks in various municipalities in the state.
Giving this direction to the CBI, the single judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said that if needed, the central agency can start its investigation by registering a separate FIR.
Justice Gangopadhyay told the CBI, also tell the court how many additional investigating officers you need for this new investigation. He also directed the CBI to submit a preliminary report in the matter on April 28.
The scam was first brought to light by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel probe with the CBI into a multi-crore scam in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in various government schools in West Bengal. Last month, while raiding the residence of real estate promoter Ayan Sil in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam, the ED had recovered incriminating documents related to his involvement in the municipal recruitment scam.
The ED’s counsel had also informed the special court in Kolkata that it had unearthed transactions worth several crores in the municipal recruitment scam, the documents of which were shared by the agency with its counterparts in the CBI. On April 17, Justice Gangopadhyay had said that it was unfortunate that while some people were working day and night to earn Rs 10,000 a month, a section of politicians were earning crores of rupees through corrupt practices.
KC/ANM
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