Kolkata, July 14 (IANS) The West Bengal government on Tuesday announced the formation of a judicial commission to probe the different cases of institutional corruption during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in the state from 2011 to 2026.
The Commission will be led by former judge of Calcutta High Court, Justice Biswajit Basu (retired).
As per the notification issued from the State Secretariat of Nabanna, an investigation will be conducted into allegations of corruption in the work of various state government departments, including education, food and supply, relief and disaster management, municipal and panchayat-controlled areas, housing, and fisheries, from 2011 to May 2026.
The said judicial commission will also investigate cases of police excesses like illegal detention of booking innocent people in false cases, an insider from the State Secretariat said.
While Justice Basu (retired) will be Head of the said commission, the investigation by the commission will be carried out under the supervision of a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
The administrative part of the commission will be handled either by any Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer or a senior-level West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) officer.
The technical aspects of the commission’s functions will be handled by a West Bengal Revenue Service (WBRS) officer. If necessary, additional members will be included in the commission if necessity arises, the State Secretariat insider added.
The said commission will also give recommendations on how the money looted through in these instances of corruption could be recovered from the offenders.
The commission will have the authority to summon anyone for questioning for the sake of investigation.
“If the said commission believes that corruption has occurred, it can recommend registering FIRs by the police in the matters. The commission will submit periodic progress reports on investigation to the state government,” the State Secretariat insider said.
Last month, the West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist-turned-politician, announced that the state government will shortly release white papers on the department-wise financial irregularities during the previous Trinamool Congress-led government under former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s leadership.
Dasgupta said that the said white-papers will explain why the huge accumulated debt was incurred by the state government during the last 15 years of Trinamool Congress government from 2011 to 2026 and why there had been unnecessary delay in implementation of a number of important development projects in the state.
The State Finance Minister also added that henceforth the new state government will place the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on the floor of the West Bengal Assembly, an issue that was completely ignored during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led state government.
–IANS
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