The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by TMC leader and MP Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira Banerjee against Directorate of Enforcement’s summons asking them to appear before it in New Delhi in connection with the money laundering dimension of the alleged irregularities and wrong doings in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government schools.
Rejecting the plea by Abhishek Banerjee and Rujira Banerjee against summoning by the Directorate of Enforcement, a bench comprising justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said that the provisions of the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002, will prevail over the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 in respect of the summoning of a person.
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Rejecting the plea by Banerjees, the court in its judgment pronounced today said that Section 71 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act gives it an overriding effect over other laws.
Banerjees had approached the top court challenging Directorate of Enforcement’s summons in alleged money laundering case relating to irregularities and wrong doings in the recruitment of the teaching and non-teaching staff in government schools in West Bengal.
The bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharm had reserved the judgment on August 13, 2024.
The TMC leader is being questioned by the Directorate of Enforcement in cases including alleged irregularities in the recruitment in the West Bengal schools.
The anti-money laundering agency has alleged that irregularities took place in the recruitment process for state-run schools and jobs were purportedly offered for monetary consideration.
Abhishek Banerjees had assailed the Delhi High Court order refusing to quash ED’s summons asking them to appear before anti- money laundering agency in New Delhi in connection with the coal scam case.
The issue related to the question whether ED can summon an accused to appear before it in New Delhi while the predicate offence is within the jurisdiction of Kolkata.
Earlier the Calcutta High Court had cancelled all appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff as it declared the entire 2016 panel of the School Service Commission for the teachers’ recruitment as null and void.
The West Bengal Government has challenged it in the top court and the matter is still pending.
The West Bengal government challenging the High Court order setting aside the selection process, in its petition has said that the order affects nearly 23,123 teaching and non-teaching staff in the government schools in West Bengal.
