KOLKATA: The trial process in the Enforcement Directorate (ED)-registered case in the alleged cash-for-school job scam in West Bengal will begin from Tuesday.
This comes after the process of charges framing in the ED-registered case was completed at a special court in Kolkata last week.
The trial will begin in the same court with the recording of the statement of witnesses which will be conducted in-camera in a closed courtroom. On Tuesday, the statement of three witnesses on this count will be recorded. Similarly, the statements of two other witnesses will be recorded on January 20 and January 27.
Sources said that the statements of these three witnesses are one of the most crucial aspects of the case. First, the statements of all the witnesses in the matter will be recorded and thereafter they will be examined and cross-examined by the prosecution and defence counsels.
All the accused named in the subsequent charge sheets filed by ED will have to be present at the special court during the entire trial process.
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 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 the party legislator and the former president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) Manik Bhattacharya.
Chatterjee's close associate Arpita Mukherjee, from whose twin residences the ED officials seized huge cash and gold in July 2022, had also been named as an accused in the case. Chatterjee’s 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 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 then diverted.