Kolkata, Jan 7 The process of framing of charges in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case in the multi-crore alleged cash-for-school job case in West Bengal was completed at a special court in Kolkata on Tuesday, officials said.
It is learnt that the charges have been framed against 53 named as accused in the various charge sheets filed by ED in the matter at the special court.
Of the 53 named as accused in the case, 29 are individuals and the remaining 24 are corporate entities or trusts.
The ED had filed a total of five charge sheets in the matter.
Now with the charge framing process being completed, the trial process in the matter will begin at the same special court this month.
The process will start with the recording of statements of three witnesses in the matter. This process will totally be in-camera within the closed courtroom.
Those named in the charge sheet as accused include heavyweight names like former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee and party legislator and the West Bengal Board of Primary Education's (WBBPE) former President Manik Bhattacharya,
Chatterjee's close associate Arpita Mukherjee, from whose twin residences the ED officials seized huge amounts of cash and gold in July 2022 had also been named as an accused in the case. His son-in-law Kalyanmoy Bhattacharya has also been named as an accused in the case.
Of the trusts named as accused in the charge sheet, one is the Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, named after Chatterjee’s deceased wife. The main charge against this trust was that illegal proceeds in the school job case were shown as donations to the trust and thus diverted.
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