Imposing a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on Banerjee, the court's decision paves the way for the investigative agencies to proceed with their interrogation, while raising further intrigue surrounding the case.
The Calcutta High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday, which sought the recall of a previous court order allowing investigative agencies like the CBI and ED to interrogate him in a teacher recruitment scam.
Justice Amrita Sinha, while rejecting the petition, imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on Abhishek Banerjee and another Rs 25 lakh on Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the scam currently in CBI custody. The CBI and ED now have the option to interrogate Abhishek Banerjee in connection with their investigation into the teacher recruitment case.
The TMC leader's name was mentioned in a complaint filed by Kuntal Ghosh, who claimed that he was being pressured by the central investigating agencies to implicate Abhishek Banerjee in the recruitment case. Earlier, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had allowed the central agencies to question both Ghosh and Banerjee.
Banerjee had challenged the order in the Supreme Court, citing a news channel interview where Justice Gangopadhyay allegedly spoke against him. Following a Supreme Court order, the cases were reassigned from Justice Gangopadhyay to Justice Sinha.
(With PTI Inputs)