Adhikari government greenlights CBI chargesheets against 9 Bengal officials
What's the story
The West Bengal government has approved the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) to file charge sheets against nine officials. The accused are linked to recruitment scams that took place under the previous Trinamool Congress regime. Eight of them are implicated in a teacher recruitment scam, and one in a municipal recruitment scam. The eight accused in the teacher recruitment scam are Santi Prasad Sinha, Subiresh Bhattacharya, Kalyanmoy Ganguly, Saumitra Sarkar, Samarjit Acharya, Parna Bose, Ashok Kumar Saha, and Sharmila Mitra.
Anti-corruption stand
Adhikari blames Mamata for delaying CBI action
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has reiterated his government's zero-tolerance policy toward corruption. He blamed former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for delaying permission to the CBI to act against corrupt officials. "The outgoing chief minister-cum-home minister withheld this permission. As a result, the CBI could not take legal action against many officers despite evidence of corruption," he said. Adhikari added, "Our government will follow a 'zero-tolerance' policy on corruption. No illegal activity will be tolerated."
Legal framework
Government order on the accused
Rules state that a sanction for prosecution is required from the state government concerned to file an investigation or charge sheet against a government official. The government order stated that the accused violated Sections 7A and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. It also mentioned that the Governor has sanctioned prosecution under Section 19(1) of the Act. The sanction is for offenses punishable under sections 7, 7A, and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.