Bengal School Job Case: Son-in-law’s Statement Key Proof Against Partha Chatterjee

KOLKATA:

The confidential statement recorded by Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya as an approver against his own father-in-law, former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, in connection with the multi-core cash-for-school job case, will be a key document for the central agencies investigating the matter during the trial process

However, sources said the confidential statements recorded by Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya, as an approver earlier this year, will mainly come in handy in explaining how he opted for various avenues in diverting the proceeds of the alleged scam through various channels at a later stage of the entire scam, rather than how he collected those proceeds by indulging in the irregularities in the recruitment at the initial stage of the scam.

In a way, sources added, Bhattacharya’s statements as approver would be more useful in the trial process in the cases registered against Chatterjee by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), rather than the cases registered against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), with both agencies undertaking parallel probes in the school job cases.

This is because, as explained by a legal associate in the case, Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya’s involvement in the school-job cases was not at the initial stage of the entire scam, when Chatterjee was primarily involved in establishing the recruitment irregularities and collecting proceeds from candidates who paid money for school jobs.

“Bhattacharya’s involvement started when his father-in-law had completed the process of collecting the proceeds and started the process of investing and diverting the same proceeds through different channels. Now, while CBI’s focus of probe was mainly on the initial process of recruitment irregularities and collection of proceeds, ED’s probe focused on the money laundering angle in the crime, the diversion and investments of the same proceeds through various channels. So naturally, Bhattacharya’s statement as an approver would be handy in the trial process in the cases registered by ED than those registered by CBI against Chatterjee,” the legal associate explained.

To recall, in March this year, Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya received the court’s approval to be an approver against his own father-in-law, and in the same month, his statements on the count were recorded at a special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata.

Bhattacharya was a member of a trust, Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, named after the deceased wife of Partha Chatterjee, which was reportedly used to divert ill-gotten proceeds in the school job case. The trust has been named as an “accused entity” in subsequent charge sheets filed by ED in the matter.

The main charges against the trust are that often proceeds from the crime received from the network of agents in the form of huge cash were shown as donations given to the trust, and thereafter the same cash was used to purchase different landed properties registered in the name of that trust.