Sack Partha Chatterjee, let law take its course

TMC will need better moral and political credentials to support its national aspirations

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would find it difficult to defend her senior minister Partha Chatterjee, who has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on some serious charges, including corruption. Chatterjee was taken into custody after raids on the premises of his aide Arpita Mukherjee yielded over Rs 20 crore in cash. Diaries and other pieces of evidence that point to corruption and wrongdoing are reported to have been seized. The links between the minister and Mukherjee have not been denied. His name has figured in a scandal relating to recruitment of teachers, and the seized money and other assets have been linked to it. So, there are circumstances that have created suspicions, and no convincing answers have been given to the questions that have come up in the wake of the raids.

The ED, like other central investigating agencies, is frequently used against Opposition leaders and others the government wants to harass. It is also true that hardly any leader who belongs to the BJP or its allies comes for adverse attention from these agencies. Cases against Opposition leaders also disappear when they join the BJP. But none of these is a reason to dismiss as baseless every case that the agencies come up with. Ministers of the Trinamool Congress government and many leaders of the party have faced serious charges of corruption. Several leaders were involved in the Saradha ponzi scheme. Many party leaders are considered to have built networks of corruption, extortion and other malpractices. These are also used to intimidate and terrorise political rivals. So, Chatterjee’s case cannot be seen in isolation as only a case of harassment. The Calcutta High Court remarked when Chatterjee wanted to be shifted to a hospital: “It would not be impossible for the accused with the aid of other political executives to take shelter under the garb of serious illness and medical treatment to evade interrogation. If this happens, Lady Justice will be cursed by the tears of hundreds and thousands of deserving candidates whose future was sacrificed in lieu of money.”

The Trinamool Congress aspires to become a national party. It also wants to be the leader of the Opposition parties that challenge the BJP. But it will need better moral and political credentials to support its aspirations. Banerjee has only made a general statement that corruption will not be tolerated, after Chatterjee’s arrest. She should sack him from the ministry and allow the law to take its course. She had promised poribortan to the people of the state, but the promised change has not yet come about.