Calcutta HC orders immediate replacement of ED officer heading Bengal school job case

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered immediate replacement of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Assistant Director Mithilesh Kumar Mishra, who heads the agency team probing the multi-crore cash for school job case in West Bengal.

The single- judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha also asked also the ED Director to ensure the replacement by October 3, the day ED has summoned Trinamool Congress national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee at the agency’s Salt Lake office.

However, Banerjee on Friday morning said that he will not be honouring the summon.

On Friday, Justice Sinha also observed that Mishra cannot be assigned to any kind of investigation on any money laundering case in West Bengal.

On Friday, senior advocate and CPI-M Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya pointed out to the court about Abhishek Banerjee’s intimation of not honouring the ED summon on October 3 because of political preoccupations at New Delhi.

At this, Justice Sinha directed the ED that their scheduled investigation process should not be hampered at any cost and for the sake of carrying forward the investigation the central agency will have the liberty to take any step as per legal provisions.

Justice Sinha clearly observed that the court has lost confidence in the efficiency of the ED official concerned in carrying forward the smooth progress of the investigation in the school job case. The judge recently expressed dissatisfaction over the mode of investigation spearheaded by Mishra and also asked him whether he wanted relief from the investigation.

During a hearing in the matter on September 25, Mishra also faced the ire of Justice Sinha for submitting incomplete details on the assets and properties of Abhishek Banerjee. She took exception to why the central agency mentioned only about three insurance policies of Banerjee in its report.

"There is no mention of his bank account details in your report. Is it possible that he has no bank account? It seems that you are also not aware of his exact residential address," Justice Sinha had said then.