School job scam: ED files chargesheet before PMLA court against former minister, his 'aide'

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday submitted a charge sheet before a special PMLA court here against former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his alleged close associate Arpita Mukherjee in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.

The charge sheet was filed on the 58th day of their arrest under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Chatterjee and Mukherjee were held on July 23 by the ED in connection with its probe into the money trail involved in the school recruitment scam.

The 172-page charge sheet was filed before the PMLA court at the Bankshall Court here against eight entities — two being Chatterjee and Mukherjee and the other six being the companies that were allegedly found to have been floated in connection with the case, ED counsel Abhijit Bhadra said.

According to the chargesheet, there are 43 witnesses in the case.

The documents attached with the chargesheet run into as many as 146,043 pages, Bhadra stated.

The ED has said before the court that around Rs 100 crore has so far been recovered in the form of cash and assets of Mukherjee, the alleged aide of the former minister.

It has claimed to have recovered Rs 49.80 crores in cash, jewellery, gold bars from flats owned by Mukherjee and documents of properties and companies in joint holdings.

Chatterjee was relieved of his ministerial duties by the Mamata Banerjee government shortly after his arrest, while the TMC,too, removed him from the posts he held in the party, including that of the secretary general. He is at present in the custody of the CBI for his questioning in connection with the scam.