Non-payment of fine: Confiscate assets of Manik Bhattacharya, says HC

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered confiscation of all assets of former chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya, who was arrested in the recruitment corruption case for non-payment of fine.

A job-seeker, who was a candidate of the Teacher Eligibility Test (2017) had approached the court after being unable to know the result even after taking the exam. The candidate had filed the Right to Information (RTI) to know the marks but even then it has been alleged that the original OMR sheet was not shown. As a result, the candidate was deprived of the opportunity to get a job. In that case, the high court had imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Bhattacharya. The job-seeker alleged that Bhattacharya had not paid the fine yet. Thereafter, the High Court ordered the confiscation of Bhattacharya’s property. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has also stated that if Bhattacharya pays the fine then the confiscated property will be returned to him.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen all bank accounts of Tapas Mondal, said to be a close aide of Bhattacharya, in the recruitment scam. The transactions from his account have been reportedly stopped for investigation purposes. In February, the CBI had arrested Mondal in connection with the SSC recruitment scam case. Mondal was earlier named in the chargesheet filed by the ED but he was never arrested by any of the central agencies.