SC dismisses appeals by Abhishek Banerjee and his wife against ED summons in teacher recruitment scam

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the appeal of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee against the summons of the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged scam related to the recruitment of teachers in West Bengal, reported Living law.

A panel of judges consisting of Bela Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma had reserved the verdict for August 13.

The case concerns Allegedly, positions are awarded to applicants for money instead of those who had qualified in the 2019 recruitment process. A dozen officials of the state education department, including former minister Partha Chatterjee, were arrested in the case.

While the Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating the criminal aspect of the scam, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating the money trail related to the alleged irregularities in school recruitment.

The Trinamool Congress leader and his wife had informed the court that their habitual residence was Calcutta, but the summons issued by the enforcement agency required them to appear before the court in New Delhi.

They argued that the summons should be governed by the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, as the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 does not prescribe any procedure in this regard. They argued that they only need to appear in Kolkata where the alleged offence took place.

The Enforcement Directorate replied that Section 50 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act was not equivalent to Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and that the provisions of the Money Laundering Act should take precedence.

Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act gives certain officials the power to summon persons to produce evidence and documents.

Section 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure deals with the authority of a police officer to demand the presence of witnesses.