Hours after SC gag order, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee summoned by CBI in alleged recruitment scam

New Delhi (India), April 17, 2023: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for questioning in the alleged teachers’ recruitment scam, a move likely to add to the intense friction between opposition parties and the BJP-led center over the alleged misuse of central agencies to target them.

The CBI summons to Banerjee, which is based on an order of the Calcutta High Court, comes just hours after the Supreme Court paused the investigation against him for alleged corruption in recruiting teachers.

The nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Banerjee, accused the CBI of trying to harass him by issuing the summons despite the Supreme Court’s order.

The alleged teachers’ recruitment scam involves irregularities in teacher appointments by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education. The CBI investigation came after some candidates who said they were denied jobs despite qualifying for the Teachers’ Eligibility Test in 2014 sought relief.

Former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested in July last year by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the scam. The ED is following the money trail in the case, and several officers of the education department and some local Trinamool leaders are also in custody in connection with the case.

The CBI’s summons to Banerjee is expected to fuel the already intense friction between opposition parties and the BJP-led center over the alleged misuse of central agencies to target them.

The incident comes just a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI as a witness in a case of alleged corruption in framing a liquor policy. Opposition leaders had earlier written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing his government of deliberately sending central agencies after them with false cases.