The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kolkata Zonal Office, has filed a second supplementary chargesheet against former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee, and Kuntal Ghosh in connection with the SSC assistant teacher recruitment scam. The chargesheet was filed on June 25, 2026, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, following the initial chargesheet on April 18, 2024, and the first supplementary chargesheet on October 18, 2025.
Background of the Investigation
The ED initiated its probe based on FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Kolkata, regarding large-scale irregularities in the recruitment of assistant teachers for Classes IX-X and XI-XII through the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC). The scheduled offences include criminal conspiracy, cheating, and corruption under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Modus Operandi and Findings
The investigation under PMLA revealed that a large-scale recruitment scam was perpetrated through manipulation of OMR scores, tampering of personality test marks, illegal appointments of undeserving candidates, and issuance of appointments after expiry of panels. Thousands of candidates were illegally appointed or recommended for teaching posts in violation of prescribed rules, depriving deserving candidates of legitimate opportunities.
Partha Chatterjee, then Minister-in-Charge of the School Education Department, allegedly played a key role in influencing and facilitating the illegal recruitment process through abuse of official position, in connivance with officials of WBCSSC, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), and various middlemen. Illegal gratification was collected from undeserving candidates in exchange for appointments. The proceeds generated from these criminal activities were routed through multiple persons and entities and projected as untainted assets.
Asset Attachments and Supreme Court Ruling
So far, three provisional attachment orders have been issued in the case, totaling Rs 301.58 crore. The ED had earlier attached properties worth Rs 247.35 crore in the Group C & D staff SSC recruitment scam in West Bengal. In the primary teachers recruitment scam, the agency has attached or seized properties worth Rs 154 crore. Thus, the total attachment by ED Kolkata in recruitment scam cases now stands at Rs 702.93 crore.
The Supreme Court has quashed the appointments of more than 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff, holding the entire recruitment process to be vitiated and tainted.
