The Calcutta High Court on September 22 directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not to take any coercive action against Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at this stage of investigation in connection with the school job scam.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, however, did not quash the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to an FIR, filed by the ED which had references to Mr. Banerjee. The Court pointed out that ED can continue with the investigation and if required can summon the Trinamool leader, but no coercive steps can be taken against Mr. Banerjee on the basis of the ECIR.
The ED had filed an ECIR after the arrest and subsequent interrogation of Sujay Krishna Bhadra alias ‘Kalighater Kaku (Uncle from Kalighat)’ in July this year. The ECIR mentions that Mr. Bhadra looked after the finance related matters of Mr. Banerjee and was very close to him. ED had arrested Mr. Bhadra in connection with the scam in May this year. On September 13, Mr. Banerjee was questioned for about nine hours in the scam.
