'Corruption Hanging Like An Albatross Around Recruitment': CBI Tells Calcutta High Court On Tampering Of OMR Sheets In Cash For Jobs Scam

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday recorded reports filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) notifying the Court of the progress of their investigation into the multi-tier cash for jobs/recruitment scam in West Bengal.

Earlier, a single bench of Justice Amrita Sinha had directed the agencies to submit their reports upon noting that the ED had questioned AITC MP Abhishek Banerjee and his associates in connection with their involvement with one Leaps & Bounds Pvt Ltd, a firm which was allegedly used to embezzle funds generated from the recruitment scam.

On the present occasion, DSG Billwadal Bhattacharya appeared and submitted the CBI's report, while DSG Dhiraj Trivedi submitted the report on behalf of the ED.

"Corruption is hanging like an albatross around the process of recruitment. This is shocking. S Basu Ray & Co. (the company being investigated for manipulating OMR sheets) is a sham.  The OMRs designed by employees from this company were never approved by the board and there was no way to get a unique identification of a candidate in order to maintain complete opaqueness. They scanned the OMRs and kept it in a text file, which can very easily be manipulated. They said they didn't have any other scanner but investigation revealed that they have other scanners which were concealed by them," Bhattacharya submitted.

DSG Dhiraj Trivedi, appearing for the ED, submitted that the agency had undertaken a detailed investigation into Leaps & Bounds Pvt Ltd., the firm linked to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and with siphoning of funds related to the recruitment scam.

It was submitted that the ED had attached assets worth almost Rs 7.5 crores linked to the firm and was combing through them in order to establish a causal link. Trivedi argued that they were unable to receive voice sample tests from Sujoy Krishna Bhadra, who was a high-ranking executive of Leaps & Bounds since he had been admitted to SSKM hospital.

Both reports were submitted in sealed covers, and the Court kept the matter on Wednesday, 3rd January 2024, for further consideration after going through the detailed reports. 

Notably, a plea was also filed before the division bench presided over by CJ TS Sivagananam challenging the attempts of Sujoy Krishna Bhadra, one of Banerjee's associates to stall the ED investigation by admitting himself to SSKM hospital by "keeping a block booked there."

Case: Soumen Nandy v State of West Bengal

Case No: WPA 9979/2022