Have examined Abhishek Banerjee, wife and got more material in School Jobs Scam: ED to Calcutta High Court

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday told the Calcutta High Court that it has examined Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee and his wife Rujira and has found "more incriminating material" in the School Jobs for Cash scam. .Single-judge Justice Amrita Sinha was informed that Banerjee has submitted a 5,500-page document to the ED and it contains details of properties, money received by his company Leaps & Bounds Pvt Ltd and also the company's manufacturing work etc. "We have examined Abhishek Banerjee and he has given us a document of 5,500 pages. We have scrutinized the said document. We also examined his wife Rujira and recorded several statements. I can say that more incriminating material has been collected now," Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Dhiraj Trivedi appearing for the ED told the court. To this, Justice Sinha, responded, "Looking at the voluminous documents it can be said that there are huge number of properties. Had there been less properties, the documents would not have been this huge. Have you checked the source of income?"The DSG replied that these documents aren't only about properties or title deeds etc. but also comprise of details regarding the money received by the company, it's manufacturing work etc. "We are going at a galloping pace. I can assure that we are not leaving any stone unturned. But I do not want to speak everything at the moment since the court proceedings are being (live) streamed. If I give any further details, everything will be reported in the media tomorrow," the DSG submitted. To a specific query on source of money, the DSG submitted that since the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the predicate offences (in the case), the ED is only looking for proceeds of crime and is therefore seizing any money/amount, it is coming across in the probe. .During the hearing, Justice Sinha referred to section 5 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which allows provisional attachment of properties, if the officer is satisfied that the same might get transferred or disposed of, to frustrate the probe. "Do you not think that there are chances that these properties might get sold or transferred? If anything like this happens at a later stage, will you run behind them? Will it not frustrate the investigation?" Justice Sinha asked the central agency. The judge further pointed out that most of the properties mentioned in the document submitted by Banerjee have been obtained after 2014. "Within such a short span of time, how can one get hold of so many properties. The recruitment process also began in 2014. So, the reason, the connection the money trail that you were speaking of, what about that? You need to enquire into that too," Justice Sinha told the DSG. However, DSG Trivedi informed the bench that ED has conducted several raids and has also seized some amounts and properties, details of which it would give to the court in a 'sealed cover.'Meanwhile, Deputy Solicitor General Billwadal Bhattacharyya representing the CBI, sought time for submitting a report listing the developments made by the agency in investigating the case. The Court, accordingly, adjourned the hearing..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.