ED files fresh chargesheet in Bengal SSC staff hiring 'scam'; names Partha Chatterjee, Kuntal Ghosh
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it filed a fresh chargesheet in the West Bengal SSC Group-C and Group-D staff recruitment scam case, naming former education minister Partha Chatterjee, his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee and expelled TMC leader Kuntal Ghosh, among others.
The supplementary prosecution complaint was filed on August 20 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata.
The central probe agency filed the first chargesheet in this case in January, 2025.
The PMLA probe stems from a CBI FIR alleging "large-scale" irregularities in the recruitment of Group-C and Group-D staff through the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC).
The three accused were also chargesheeted by the ED in June in another money laundering case related to the West Bengal Central SSC Assistant Teachers recruitment 'scam'.
The ED arrested Chatterjee, a former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, in a third case related to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in July 2022, Later, the Supreme Court granted him conditional bail, and he was released in April this year.
The ED alleged in a statement that Chatterjee, as the then minister in-charge of the Education Department, exercised "overarching" authority over WBCSSC and allied institutions and "misused" his official position to influence and facilitate illegal recruitments.
The agency claimed that the lists of undeserving candidates were prepared "pursuant to his (Chatterjee's) directions" and routed through arrested "principal middleman" Prasanna Kumar Roy and his associates, who then issued recommendation and appointment letters.
"Investigation has further revealed manipulation of OMR-based examination results and rank jumping to facilitate illegal appointments," the ED charged.
The agency said amounts ranging from Rs 10-20 lakh were demanded from candidates for various posts -- Rs 15-16 lakh for Group-C posts and Rs 10-12 lakh for Group-D posts were collected from undeserving candidates.
The agency stated that the proceeds of crime quantified in the case stood at Rs 630.40 crore, and this amount may be higher as the "scam" involved other modes of illegal recruitment, including rank jumping, out-of-panel appointments, appointments after panel expiry, and manipulation through RTI/re- evaluation mechanisms.
It said the Supreme Court in April 2025 held that the recruitment process conducted by the WBCSSC was vitiated by fraud and cancelled the appointments of more than 25,000 teachers and staff.
The judgment also recorded large-scale irregularities including manipulation of OMR scores, rank jumping and illegal appointments, the ED added.
