Calcutta High Court Judge Amrita Sinha has criticised the investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the school job scam case. Her comments sparked a political controversy and embarrassed not only the ruling Trinamool Congress but also the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On Monday, Justice Sinha came down heavily on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and said that she could “smell something” and that “all is not well” with the ongoing probe.
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The Judge had several questions for Mithilesh Mishra, the Assistant Director of ED who was present in court and expressed her displeasure at the ED’s conduct of the investigation into the finances of Leaps and Bounds, a company whose CEO is Abhishek Banerjee. The Court pointed out that the list of assets provided by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee appeared to be “grossly incomplete”.
Shoddy investigation
“The assets of Sri. Abhishek Banerjee, who is a member of parliament and CEO of Leaps and Bounds Private Limited, as disclosed in the letter forwarded to the Enforcement Directorate mentions only three insurance policies with Life Insurance Corporation of India. No further details of the assets of the said CEO have been mentioned,’ Justice Sinha said in the order.
The Court observed that a bare perusal of the main objects and the incidental/ancillary objects of the company ( Leaps and Bounds) gives you the impression it catered to all types of business, from a pin to an elephant.
“The investigating agencies are directed to file reports providing details of transactions by the Company, value of the transactions, and clients of the Company from the date of its inception. The balance sheet and statement of accounts of the Company from the date of its inception till date shall be disclosed,” the Court directed.
The Court also took note that the ED officer present in the Court said that he required the assistance of more investigating officers to speed up the investigation and directed the counsel to talk to the Director of the Enforcement Directorate.
“Nearly fifteen months have elapsed from the day the investigation was directed to be conducted, but hardly any result can be seen,” Justice Sinha wrote in the order
Attempt to malign
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh while reacting to developments in the Court said that the attempt was to malign Abhishek Banerjee by bringing up his name in the Court. The Trinamool spokesperson said that utterances in the Court are part of the legal process and the Trinamool Congress leader was cooperating with the investigation.
The developments have also been embarrassing for the State BJP. Sukanta Majumdar, The State BJP president, tried to defend the ED and said that are not many investigating officers in the ED. “There are very few ED officers in West Bengal and that is the reason why investigation is moving at such a slow pace. The officers are spending most of their time visiting Courts,” Mr. Majumdar said.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari who has been maintaining that he has no faith in officers of investigating agencies in the State, said on Monday that the time for summons and questioning is long gone and now the agencies should arrest.
Allegations of a ‘setting’ (understanding) between the BJP and Trinamool Congress have been raised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress over the past few years and after Justice Sinha’s comments on the ED, leaders in the BJP have been raising similar questions.
“Kolkata is agog with ‘setting’ theories between BJP/ED/CBI and Trinamool. ED’s counsel turned into jelly when questioned in High Court. Severely reprimanded by Her Lordship Ms. Amrita Sinha. Please set things right without delay. @BJP4India @BJP4Bengal @JPNadda @AmitShahOffice,” Tathagata Roy, former Governor of Meghalaya and senior BJP leader said on social media platform ‘X’.
