ED Files Supplementary Complaint in West Bengal SSC Recruitment Scam, POC Put at ₹630 Crore
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kolkata Zonal Office, has filed its first supplementary prosecution complaint against former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, Arpita Mukherjee, Kuntal Ghosh and others in connection with the alleged SSC Group-C and Group-D recruitment scam.
The complaint was filed on August 20, 2026, before the Special Court (PMLA), Kolkata, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. It follows the prosecution complaint filed by the agency on January 22, 2025.
The ED launched its money-laundering investigation based on FIRs registered by the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Kolkata over alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group-C and Group-D staff through the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC).
According to the ED, the alleged recruitment irregularities involved manipulation of OMR scores, rank jumping, forged and back-dated recommendation letters, appointments after the expiry of recruitment panels and selection of ineligible candidates by bypassing prescribed procedures.
The agency has alleged that Partha Chatterjee, who was then in charge of the Education Department, exercised significant authority over the WBCSSC and related institutions and misused his position to facilitate illegal appointments. The ED said lists of allegedly ineligible candidates were prepared on his directions and routed through middlemen, including Prasanna Kumar Roy and his associates, for recommendation and appointment.
The investigation also allegedly uncovered a network of middlemen and agents who collected illegal payments from candidates in exchange for assured appointments. The ED said candidates were allegedly asked to pay between ₹10 lakh and ₹20 lakh for various posts, while payments of around ₹15–16 lakh were collected for Group-C posts and ₹10–12 lakh for Group-D posts.
The agency identified Prasanna Kumar Roy as a key middleman who, along with his associates, allegedly facilitated the collection and movement of the proceeds of crime.
The ED has quantified the proceeds of crime generated through the Group-C and Group-D recruitment scam at a minimum of ₹630.40 crore. According to the agency, this figure is based on the number of allegedly illegal appointments and the amounts collected from candidates. The ED has also said the actual amount could be higher because the alleged scam involved other methods, including rank jumping, out-of-panel appointments, appointments after panel expiry and manipulation through RTI and re-evaluation mechanisms.
The agency further alleged that the proceeds of crime were concealed, possessed, acquired, used and projected as legitimate assets through a network of associates, proxies and shell or dummy entities.
During searches conducted in a linked Primary Teachers Recruitment Scam case at premises associated with Arpita Mukherjee, the ED had seized around ₹49.80 crore in cash along with gold and jewellery valued at approximately ₹5.08 crore. The agency alleged that Mukherjee acted as a custodian of illicit funds and was made a director or shareholder in several shell and dummy companies used to park and layer the alleged proceeds of crime.
The investigation also found, according to the ED, that several immovable properties were acquired through entities linked to the accused and their associates using funds allegedly generated from the recruitment scam.
So far, the ED has attached properties worth approximately ₹247.35 crore in the SSC Group-C and Group-D recruitment case. Across cases related to the SSC and Primary Teachers recruitment scams, the agency said it has attached proceeds of crime worth more than ₹702 crore.
The case follows a significant Supreme Court judgment dated April 3, 2025, in State of West Bengal vs. Baishakhi Bhattacharyya (Chatterjee) & Others. The court held that the recruitment process conducted by the WBCSSC was vitiated by fraud and cancelled the appointments of more than 25,000 teachers and staff.
The Supreme Court judgment also noted large-scale irregularities, including manipulation of OMR scores, rank jumping and illegal appointments.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
