Teachers scam: Bengal education Secy, 2 other officers named in ED's supplementary charge sheet

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), probing the multi-crore scam in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West, Bengal has named the state education secretary and two other bureaucrats, who were confidantes of the former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, in its supplementary charge sheet

Besides the state education secretary Manish Jain, the two other bureaucrats named in the supplementary charge sheet are Partha Chatterjee's former executive assistant Sukanta Acharya and office-on- special- duty Probir Bandopadhyay.

However, Jain and the two others have not been mentioned as accused in the supplementary charge sheet.

Jain, however, has told media persons that he has got the information about his name being mentioned in the supplementary charge sheet from media reports only. Describing the matter as unfortunate, he claimed that he could not imagine of anyone who could tag his name in the case, since neither he was involved with the recruitment process nor he ever received any instruction from the former state education minister on this count.

To recall, in November last year, Jain appeared in front of the Calcutta High Court's single- judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay during the course of hearing in the recruitment scam.

When questioned by Justice Gangopadhyay that whose orders prompted the state education department to create additional super-numeric posts to accommodate those allegedly getting their appointment illegally, Jain told the court that the decision to create super-numeric posts was taken by the state cabinet and ordered by the current state education minister Bratya Basu. Jain also informed the court that he was not present at the cabinet meeting where the decision to create super-numeric posts was passed.

Jain's submission prompted Justice Gangopadhyay to raise the question on how the state cabinet could take such a decision to accommodate ineligible candidates appointed illegally.