‘Partha Chatterjee the mastermind’: CBI vows to uphold stand across all WBSSC scam trials

Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee has been identified as the principal architect in all cases linked to the alleged West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) scam, sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.

The agency confirmed it would uphold this position throughout the trial process.

The process of framing charges has already been completed in some cases at a special CBI court in Kolkata, where 21 individuals, including Chatterjee, were formally named as accused. On Friday, the court will complete charge framing in additional cases connected to the scam.

According to CBI sources, Chatterjee has been named the main culprit across all charge sheets and supplementary filings related to the school-job scam.

The alleged irregularities span six categories: appointments of secondary, higher secondary, and upper-primary teachers by WBSSC; primary teacher recruitment by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE); and recruitment of non-teaching Group-C and Group-D staff by WBSSC.

“While other accused were linked to irregularities in one or two categories, Chatterjee’s involvement spans all six, marking him as the overall mastermind,” said CBI sources.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), conducting a parallel investigation, had also repeatedly identified Chatterjee as the central figure in nearly all charge sheets related to the school-job cases.

Chatterjee has spent the longest period in custody among all accused, following his arrest in July 2022 by ED officials at his residence. He was subsequently shown as arrested by the CBI as well. While he has recently secured bail in most cases from both CBI and ED, he remains in judicial custody due to separate proceedings linked to irregularities in primary teacher recruitment under WBBPE.

With IANS inputs