WB recruitment scam: SC rejects TMC leader Manik Bhattacharya's plea challenging ED arrest

New Delhi, Oct 20: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Trinamool Congress leader Manik Bhattacharya's plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case relating to the alleged irregularities in primary teachers' appointments.

The apex court had reserved the order on his plea on October 18.

Earlier, appearing for Bhattacharya, senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued before a bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Vikram Nath that the Supreme Court had granted the petitioner the protection from arrest in the CBI matter which would also extend upon the ED. "The Enforcement Directorate is piggy-riding upon the Central Bureau of Investigation," Bar and Bench quoted Rohatgi as saying.

The advocate had also claimed that the TMC MLA had co-operated with the investigation and appeared before the ED on every occasion.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya on October 11 after night-long questioning in connection with the irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers.

Bhattacharya, the former chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, was arrested for allegedly not cooperating with the investigation, they said.

He is the MLA of Palashipara in Nadia district.

The ED has been tracking the money trail in the scam, while the CBI is looking into the alleged irregularities committed in the recruitment.

It is alleged that several people who fared poorly in the recruitment examinations were hired as teachers in exchange for lakhs of rupees, while the eligible candidates were overlooked.