School jobs case: Calcutta HC seeks details of personal files downloaded by ED official during raid

Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Friday sought details of the 16 personal files downloaded by an Enforcement Directorate (ED) official from the computer of an office linked to the prime accused in the cash for school jobs case, Sujay Krishna Bhadra, while conducting a raid last month.

The single judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh directed that the details of the 16 personal files should be presented at his bench by 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The reference to the 16 downloaded files was made in a fresh petition filed at Justice Ghosh’s bench on Friday by Trinamool Congress’ national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee in connection to his name being included in the ongoing probe by the central agencies into the multi-crore cash for school jobs case.

Although Justice Ghosh was supposed to take a decision whether the fresh petition was admissible considering that a previous petition in the same matter by Banerjee is pending at his court only, he ordered for the presentation of the downloaded files for examination.

Meanwhile, sources said the ED top brass is considering initiating internal disciplinary action against the official who downloaded the 16 personal files. There is high possibility of the official concerned being removed from the investigation in this matter, sources said.

The cyber crime division of Kolkata Police has already taken up investigation in the matter following a complaint filed by an employee of the said corporate entity.

The ED had told the city police that the 16 personal files were downloaded by one of its officials inadvertently while searching for a students’ hostel for his daughter, who recently got admitted to one of the reputed engineering colleges in the state.

The ED also clarified that the files were downloaded after the search operation was concluded, adding that it was done under CCTV monitoring and in the presence of the employees of the company as well as the independent witnesses present on the spot.

The two independent witnesses included a deputy manager and an assistant manager of Punjab National Bank.