Calcutta HC Removes ED Officer From School Jobs Scam Probe

Less than a week after the Calcutta High Court severely censured senior Enforcement Directorate officer Mithilesh Kumar Mishra for taking too long to look into the assets of Leaps and Bounds, a company whose CEO is Trinamul Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, the state's high judiciary barred Mishra from looking into not only the primary school teachers recruitment scam case but also from looking into any cases arising out of the state.

The court also instructed the ED to make sure that the agency's timeline for enquiry and investigation, which it had in mind for that day, is not hindered in any way after being informed of Banerjee's decision to ignore the agency's fresh summons for appearance in connection with the case on October 3 and instead remain present at his party's previously scheduled program in the Capital.

"On the last occasion the court had the opportunity to interact with the said Mithilesh Kr Mishra in open court," Justice Amrita Sinha said while passing the temporary order. Shri Mishra was unable to respond to the court's inquiries in a way that was satisfactory. The court is convinced after such interaction that the stated official is incompetent to deal with the massive instant recruitment scam issue. The task given to Shri Mithilesh Kr. Mishra is to be immediately delegated to another capable officer, according to a directive from the director of the Enforcement Directorate. The investigation into the current matter will no longer be under Shri Mithilesh Kr Mishra's control. Shri Mithilesh Kumar Mishra will not be trusted to investigate any cases that arise in the state of West Bengal, but the director of the Enforcement Directorate is instructed to use him in another case.

This court has been informed that a summons has been issued, requesting appearance on October 3, 2023. The investigating officers must take the required actions to continue the investigation so that it can be finished as soon as possible. The director of the Enforcement Directorate is ordered to act right away in this case so that the investigation and inquiry scheduled for the third day are not hindered in any way whatsoever, the judge's order continued.

Senior attorney Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who is also one of the attorneys in the case, interpreted the last section of the order as follows: "The judge has made clear that the ED is empowered under provisions of law to ensure the witness presence before the agency on the stipulated date without fail, no matter what the witness's excuses are.

"The agency may also detain him if necessary and force him to take the test. He added, "The court will not accept any more postponement of this probe.

On his X timeline earlier in the day, Banerjee posted: "The fight against the deprivation of WB and its rightful dues shall persist regardless of the obstacles," while also indicating that he would disregard the agency summons. Nothing on Earth will be able to stop me from standing up for the people of WB and their basic rights. On October 2nd and 3rd, I'll be in Delhi participating in the demonstration, and I added: "STOP ME IF U CAN!"

Right at the start of Friday's session, Bhattacharya informed the judge about the alleged posting and pleaded with the court for guidance.

Despite the fact that ED counsel Dhiraj Trivedi testified in court that the officer "has been doing wonderful work and that the agency has already reconstituted the investigation team with additional officers to probe the case," Sinha directed Mishra's removal on the grounds that "the court has lost confidence in him." Mishra, an assistant director of the ED, was in charge of the primary school recruitment scam case and came under fire from the Bench on Monday for woefully failing to respond satisfactorily to the judge's questions about why he had made insufficient progress in identifying the scammers despite working on it for more than 15 months.

During the hearing, the judge told the agency's attorney, "Let him do his wonderful job somewhere else." "The cop seemed to have very little trust in himself. How will an ED officer handle this kind of situation if he lacks that degree of confidence? He must depart since the court no longer trusts him. She made this remark in connection to her Monday courtroom conversation with Mishra: "Someone else will come and take up the case.

The ED informed the court that it has made significant progress in the case, which are detailed in the confidential report, which cannot be discussed in an open court due to the sensitivity of the information it contained. The ED handed over yet another report from Mishra to the Bench, this time in a sealed cover. "As instructed, we will provide a thorough report to this court on October 10. We are doing everything we can. The ED lawyer stated, "We tell this court that protocols are being followed and there was no lazy or laid-back attitude from our part. However, the agency did make a mistake by failing to include those development information in its prior report.

The court promptly cut off the ED's statement, "As of date, we have traced Rs 49.8 crores related to this scam," saying, "But you are unable to identify the person responsible."

Regarding the situation of our officers, we are now looking at 131 cases. Six investigators and four cops above them make up our team. To illustrate how overburdened the agency already is, Trivedi told the court that each IO is responsible for 22 cases.

The defense attorney stated his fear for the safety of the involved investigating officers and said, "We have also reconstructed a team with two extra IOs. Since my officers are extremely uneasy and currently lack security from the central government, I won't reveal any identities. To reach a logical conclusion, we are attempting to request more team members. We will wrap up this investigation because we are a trustworthy and accountable agency.