Calcutta High Court asks ED, CBI to file progress reports on primary school jobs case

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI to submit updated reports on their ongoing investigation into a purported primary school jobs scam in West Bengal, focusing on the recruitment of primary teachers who passed a Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014.

Justice Amrita Sinha directed both the agencies, which are investigating the alleged irregularities in the recruitment process and the money trail on orders of the court, to present their progress reports at the next hearing on June 12.

The ED provided a forensic report on the voice sample of Sujay Krishna Bhadra, an alleged employee of Leaps and Bounds, a company reportedly linked to Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, who was one of its directors for a limited period of time.

Deputy solicitor general Dhiraj Trivedi, representing the agencies, highlighted the confiscation of properties valued at Rs 134.96 crore in connection with the case so far.

He said both the agencies are working in tandem and taking steps to conclude the investigation.

Justice Sinha noted that the ED report only stated that the forensic report of Bhadra's voice sample was in favour of the prosecution, without elaborating.

The court asked Trivedi whether it had found any money trail in the case. The ED counsel submitted that substantial progress has been made in the investigation.