School jobs scam: Final hearing in Abhishek Banerjee’s case on September 19

Kolkata: The final hearing in Trinamool Congress national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee's case in connection with the alleged cash for school jobs scam at the Calcutta High Court will be held on September 19.

The division bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on Tuesday directed the counsels of both Banerjee and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to submit their respective affidavits in the matter to his bench before September 19.

On Tuesday, the ED counsel also gave a verbal assurance to the court that although Banerjee has been summoned by the ED for questioning on Wednesday, there will be no coercive action against him till the final judgement in the matter comes.

The ED counsel, S.V. Raju, informed the court that sending notice to someone for questioning does not mean that the person summoned will be arrested.

“He has been summoned for certain clarifications in the case,” he said.

However, the counsel for Banerjee, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued that the central agency must have sent the notice with some intention.

“There is no evidence against my client, yet he has been served the notice,” Sighvi said.

Justice Ghosh suggested that the central agency should wait for some time before taking any action. He also observed that the ED has the right to summon anyone or even conduct raids.

“But since the matter is still pending before the court, my advice is to refrain from taking any drastic action now,” he observed.