ED, Kolkata Zonal Office has filed the 1st Supplementary Prosecution Complaint on 20.08.2026 against Partha Chatterjee, Ms. Arpita Mukherjee, Kuntal Ghosh and others before the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Kolkata in connection with the SSC Group-C and Group-D Staff Recruitment Scam in West Bengal. The complaint has been filed under PMLA, 2002 in continuation of the Prosecution Complaint dated 22.01.2025.
Directorate of Enforcement (ED) Kolkata Zonal Office has filed the 1st Supplementary Prosecution Complaint on 20.08.2026 against Partha Chatterjee, Ms. Arpita Mukherjee, Kuntal Ghosh and others before the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Kolkata in connection with the SSC Group-C and Group-D Staff Recruitment Scam in West Bengal. The complaint has been filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in continuation of the Prosecution Complaint dated 22.01.2025.
ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), ACB, Kolkata relating to large-scale irregularities in the recruitment of Group-C and Group-D staff through the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC). The scheduled offences pertain to criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Investigation under the PMLA has revealed that the recruitment scam was perpetrated through manipulation of OMR scores, rank jumping, issuance of forged and back-dated recommendation letters, illegal appointments after expiry of panels and appointment of undeserving candidates by circumventing the prescribed recruitment procedures.
Investigation has further revealed that Shri Partha Chatterjee, the then Minister-in-Charge of the Education Department, exercised overarching authority over WBCSSC and allied institutions and misused his official position to influence and facilitate illegal recruitments. Investigation has revealed that lists of undeserving candidates were prepared pursuant to his directions and routed through middlemen, including Shri Prasanna Kumar Roy and his associates, for issuance of recommendation and appointment letters. The investigation has further revealed manipulation of OMR-based examination results and rank jumping to facilitate illegal appointments.
Investigation further revealed that a network of middlemen and agents collected illegal gratification from aspiring candidates in return for assured appointments. Amounts ranging from approximately Rs. 10 Lakh to Rs. 20 Lakh were demanded from candidates for various posts, while amounts ranging from Rs. 15-16 Lakh for Group-C posts and Rs. 10-12 Lakh for Group-D posts were collected from undeserving candidates. Prasanna Kumar Roy acted as a principal middleman and, along with his associates, facilitated collection and routing of the Proceeds of Crime.
Investigation has quantified the Proceeds of Crime in the Group-C and Group-D recruitment scam to the tune of at least Rs. 630.40 Crore. The quantification is based on the number of illegal appointments and the amounts collected from candidates. The investigation has also established that the actual Proceeds of Crime may be higher, as the scam involved other modes of illegal recruitment including rank jumping, out-of-panel appointments, appointments after expiry of panels and manipulation through RTI/re-evaluation mechanisms.
Investigation has further revealed that the Proceeds of Crime generated through illegal recruitment were concealed, possessed, acquired, used and projected as untainted property through a network of associates, proxies and shell/dummy entities. During searches in a linked case of Primary Teachers Recruitment Scam at premises of Ms. Arpita Mukherjee, cash amounting to approximately Rs. 49.80 Crore and gold and jewellery valued at approximately Rs. 5.08 Crore were seized. Investigation revealed that Ms. Arpita Mukherjee acted as a custodian of illicit funds and was made director/shareholder in several shell and dummy companies used for parking and layering the Proceeds of Crime.
Further, multiple immovable properties were acquired through entities linked to the accused persons and their associates using funds derived from the recruitment scam. ED has so far attached properties amounting to approximately Rs. 247.35 Crore in the SSC Group-C and Group-D recruitment scam. ED has so far attached Proceeds of Crime amounting to more than Rs. 702 Crore in the recruitment scam cases related to SSC and Primary Teachers.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its judgment dated 03.04.2025 in SLP (Civil) No. 9586 of 2024, titled State of West Bengal vs. Baishakhi Bhattacharyya (Chatterjee) & Others, held that the recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal Central School Service Commission was vitiated by fraud and cancelled the appointments of more than 25,000 teachers and staff. The judgment also recorded large-scale irregularities including manipulation of OMR scores, rank jumping and illegal appointments.
