No coercive action against Abhishek Banerjee, Calcutta HC tells ED

Kolkata, Sep 22: The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the ED not to take coercive steps against senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee in connection with its probe into the school jobs scam in West Bengal.
The bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, however, did not quash the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to an FIR, filed by the Enforcement Directorate against Banerjee.
It also said that the investigation against Banerjee into alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in government and government-sponsored schools will continue. The evidence produced by the central agency is not sufficient to warrant the arrest of Banerjee, the court said.
“As such, except the statement of Sujay Krishna Bhadra (an accused who is in custody), no materials were produced by ED before this court to relate the petitioner with the ECIR under challenge. Having regard to the same, I direct that no coercive measures would be taken against the petitioner by the ED,” the judge said in the order.
Citing a Supreme Court order, the bench said that to effect an arrest, an officer authorised has to assess and evaluate the materials in his possession; and through such materials, he is expected to form a reason to believe that a person has been guilty of an offence punishable under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
On the quashing of the ECIR as sought by Banerjee, it said that “the stage at which the petitioner approached this court was premature compared to the present stage of investigation and as such the same cannot be interfered with.” A senior ED lawyer said the court has not closed the option of charging Banerjee with Section 19/1 of the PMLA if the investigators have sufficient ground to act against the MP, who is considered number 2 in the TMC.
This section grants authorised officials such as the director/assistant director of probe agencies the power to arrest people suspected of committing offences under PMLA, if the investigators have sufficient evidence or reason to believe that the person concerned has committed an offence, he said. Earlier this month, the TMC national general secretary was questioned by the ED for a marathon nine hours in connection with the West Bengal teacher recruitment scam. (PTI)