Calcutta High Court lens on money laundering in Bengal primary teachers’ recruitment case

 Justice Amrita Sinha made the observation after going through the reports that the CBI and the ED had submitted two days ago after complying with a court directive to attach the properties of the Leaps and Bounds, a company in which Trinamul Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee was a director

Tapas Ghosh, TT,  Calcutta, 16.03.24 : Justice Amrita Sinha of Calcutta High Court, who is dealing with the alleged scam in the primary teachers’ recruitment, observed on Friday that the quantum of money laundered was mindboggling and for the sake of a better probe, she was not revealing the details of reports submitted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at this stage.

The judge made the observation after going through the reports that the CBI and the ED had submitted two days ago after complying with a court directive to attach the properties of the Leaps and Bounds, a company in which Trinamul Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee was a director.

“The quantum of money that has been laundered is mindboggling. Money has changed hands at multiple levels. The proceeds of crime have seamlessly permeated from one person to the other and from one department to the other. It has also travelled up to the neighbouring state. It is shocking to fathom the intensity of the crime. Government jobs appear to have been sold at exorbitant rates,” read an order issued by the court.

”To maintain the purity of the investigation process and to preserve the rights of the parties at the stage of trial, the court is refraining from mentioning the specifics disclosed in the report,” the judge wrote in the order.

The court hoped that both the investigating agencies would continue to dig out the details of the crime and stated: “The court expects the agencies to explore the possibility of filing charge sheet(s) and to proceed for trial or else the pain and the trouble taken and the time consumed to collect the evidence shall all go in vain and the offender shall go scot-free.”

The court has said it appears from the ED report that “more proactive steps are required to be taken in terms of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002”.

“ED is directed to identify the proceeds of crime and particularly ascertain the source of such a huge amount of money accumulated by the Company M/s Leaps and Bounds...,” the order said.