Calcutta HC Dismisses Review Petition Against Order Directing CBI Probe Into Alleged Irregularities In Municipal Job Recruitment

The Calcutta High Court has dismissed the review petition filed against the order directing CBI to investigate alleged scam relating to recruitment in the municipalities.

“It does not appear that the department of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs has suffered or may suffer any prejudice by the order sought to be reviewed. On the contrary, the Court is of the opinion that, the State including its departments, ought to cooperate with the investigating agencies and ensure that the investigation that is continuing reaches a logical conclusion at the earliest, so that the offenders can be booked and appropriately dealt with in accordance with law.”, Justice Amrita Sinha observed.

The Court added that the same will in return enure to the advantage of the State authorities in identifying the persons involved in the racket of job in-lieu-of cash and the administration of the State may continue smoothly.

The Court was dealing with the review petition filed by the State Government seeking review of the Order passed by the Single Judge of the High Court directing transfer of investigation to CBI on a plea filed by ED.

AG S. N. Mookherjee appeared for the State, DSG Dhiraj Trivedi appeared for ED and DSGI Billwadal Bhattacharyya appeared for CBI.

The Court noted that “Several high ranking officials of the State Government involved in the scam are behind the bars at present and the investigating agencies are proceeding to identify the others involved in the crime. The investigation has proceeded to a fair extent and at this stage it will be highly improper to allow some other investigating agency to conclude the investigation. The connecting crime that has been unearthed recently appears to be a part of the entire big scam relating to job in-lieu-of cash either in the schools or in the municipalities”

The Court also observed that the scam in the municipalities is not an independent offence but is a part of the larger offence involving more or less the same persons, similar nature of crime, similar proceeds of crime, similar victims that is the common people who are the unemployed youth of the society.

Thus the Court dismissed the review plea.

Cause Title- State of West Bengal v. Soumen Nandy & Ors.

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