Charges Framed Against 21 in Massive West Bengal School Jobs Scam
In a big step forward in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) scam case, a special CBI court in Kolkata wrapped up the process of framing charges against 21 accused individuals on Thursday. This multi-crore scandal involves alleged corruption in school teacher recruitments, and the court’s move paves the way for the trial to kick off soon.
Among the key figures hit with charges is Partha Chatterjee, the former West Bengal education minister and ex-Trinamool Congress secretary general. He’s been in the spotlight for his role in the WBSSC scam. Joining him are Paresh Chandra Adhikary, the ex-minister of state for school education, and his daughter Ankita Adhikary. All three have filed petitions seeking exemption from the charges, but the court has moved ahead regardless.
The list of accused also features big names from the education sector. This includes Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay, former chairman of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), Subiresh Bhattacharya, ex-WBSSC chairman, Santa Prasad Singh, who headed the WBSSC screening committee, Ashok Saha, former WBSSC secretary, and staff members like Samarjit Acharya and Parna Basu.
Adding to the mix are Niladri Das and Pankaj Bansal, associates of NYSA—a private firm the WBSSC hired to handle optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets for the recruitment exams. Their involvement points to tampering and irregularities in the exam process.
The charges cover serious offenses like criminal conspiracy, destroying evidence, cheating, forgery, and using fake documents. Once the trial begins, it could lead to convictions and sentencing for those found guilty.
Partha Chatterjee has spent the longest time behind bars in this school jobs scam—arrested in July 2022 from his home by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) during their parallel probe. The CBI later added him to their case too. Recently, courts granted him bail in most WBSSC-related cases from both agencies, but he’s still in custody due to separate probes into irregularities in primary teacher recruitments by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE).
This development keeps the focus on the WBSSC scam, one of the biggest recruitment frauds in West Bengal’s history, as the fight against corruption in school jobs continues.
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