Teachers recruitment scam: CBI conducts searches in Bengal

n d u ct e d s e a r ch e s i n W e s t Be nga l in conn ecti on w ith the p r i m a r y t e a c h e r s r e c r ui tm e n t s ca m cas e at the premis es of aid es o f f or m e r e d u ca t i o n mi n i s t e r

Pa rtha C hatterj ee, offi ci als sai d

"It was found that the accused were allegedly acting as conduits in collecting bribe money from candidates by promising them jobs as primary teachers," the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement

During the operation the premises of Chatterjee s former political private secretary, Partha Sarkar alias Bhaja, former officer of special duty, Prabir Banerjee, and former government private secretary, Sukanta Acharjee, were searched by the agency

"During the searches, various incriminating documents/articles were recovered and are under scrutiny," the statement said Cas es shi fted f rom HC j ud ge

Meanwhile, two cases being heard by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta

HC were reassigned to Justice Amrita Sinha in accordance with a Supreme Court directive

Justice Sinha will now hear both cases The SC recently asked Calcutta HC

Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam to reassign cases away from Justice G a n g o p a d h y a y after Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee challenged an order by the judge last month asking the ED and the CBI to probe him in the teacher recruitment scam

Justice Gangopadhyay referred to this issue while speaking to reporters The SC said a judge should be “disabled from hearing a case ” against a political personality if s/he gave an opinion to the media on the political personality It also sought a report from the Calcutta HC registrar-general, after ascertaining from Justice Gangopadhyay, whether he had indeed given such an interview