CBI attempting to tarnish Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee’s reputation, says lawyer

CBI accused of politically motivated narrative to tarnish Abhishek Banerjee's reputation in recruitment scam, lawyer claims lack of evidence.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is building a politically motivated narrative in a blatant attempt to tarnish the reputation of Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, his lawyer Sanjay Basu said in a statement on Wednesday (February 26, 2025).

The development came after the CBI filed a supplementary charge sheet in the primary teachers recruitment scam before a court in Kolkata where the name of one Abhishek Banerjee surfaces.

“The CBI’s politically motivated narrative is a blatant attempt to tarnish Abhishek Banerjee’s reputation. By inserting unverified statements into a case concerning others, the agency has raised serious concerns about the fairness of its investigation,” a press statement issued by Mr. Basu office said.

While the charge sheet does not disclose identity of Abhishek Banerjee, the document adds, “It has further been revealed from the conversation that there was a rift between Abhishek Banerjee and accused Partha Chatterjee on the issue of illegal appointment”. The charge sheet also alleges that Abhishek Banerjee “demanded ₹15 crore for the illegal appointment already done”.

The charge sheet identifies Partha Chatterjee as a former State Education Minister and Sujay Krishna Bhadra alias Kalighater Kaku (uncle from Kalighat), who has been identified as the ‘chief operating officer’ of a company Leaps and Bounds, and named as accused number one in the supplementary charge sheet. According to the agency the name Abhishek Banerjee figures in an audio conversation recorded in 2017 by Aurobindo Roy Barman at the behest of Kuntal Ghosh, an accused in the scam at the residence of Sujay Krishna Bhadra, where Mr. Ghosh and others had visited for delivery of bribe amount.

Both Sujay Krishna Bhadra and Partha Chatterjee were arrested by the central investigating agencies for their alleged involvement in the recruitment scam. “The alleged third supplementary charge sheet is nothing more than a fishing expedition aimed at harassing my client. The CBI has failed to provide a shred of corroborative evidence, with no supporting documents appended to its claims. This is yet another instance of my client being unjustly targeted,” the statement by Mr. Banerjee’s lawyer said in the statement.

The recruitment scam is being investigated by both the CBI and the ED. The scam had come to the fore after the arrest of former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in July 2022 by the ED. Both the CBI and the ED had issued summons to the Trinamool Congress general secretary to appear before the agency in May 2023 and October 2023 respectively.