Bengal school job scam: CBI summons West Bengal education secretary

Kolkata, June 14 (IANS) The CBI has summoned West Bengal education secretary Manish Jain for questioning in connection with the multi-crore school recruitment case.

Jain has been asked to be present at the CBI's Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata on Thursday. Sources said that he has also been asked to bring along some relevant documents in the matter.

This is the second time that Jain has been summoned by the CBI for questioning. Jain has also has been named as a witness in the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel probe in the school recruitment case.

Sources said that the basic question that the CBI sleuths would like to ask Jain is whether any influential person used to influence the recruitment process for teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal.

Sources added that the specific questions will be on the role of the former state education minister Partha Chatterjee. Jain is also likely to be questioned on the role played by Chatterjee's executive assistant, Sukanta Acharya.

Chatterjee is currently in judicial custody due to his alleged involvement in the school recruitment case. He has been in jail for almost a year since he was arrested by the ED in July last year.

Earlier, when he was questioned by CBI sleuths in the matter, Jain informed them that his work was just to sign those files which Chatterjee used to forward to him for his clearance.

It was because of Jain confession in the court that the state education department faced the ire of the Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay for the decision to create super-numeric teaching posts in state-run schools. Jain then confessed in the court that the decision on super-numeric posts was taken by the state government.