Ranchi, Oct 22: The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday expressed strong displeasure over the pendency of more than 200 preliminary inquiries (PEs) at the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The court directed the agency’s Director General to submit a detailed affidavit explaining why there is so much delay and when the probes will be completed.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation, observed that it was a matter of serious concern that out of 613 preliminary inquiries registered with the ACB, 480 have been disposed of, while 211 cases remain pending for a long period.

The bench said the state’s premier anti-graft agency cannot cite workload or shortage of staff as excuses for delays in corruption investigations.

It also remarked that the ACB was created precisely to handle such inquiries and ensure swift action against corruption, adding that any delay undermines public confidence in the system.

During the hearing, a Deputy Superintendent of Police submitted an affidavit on behalf of the ACB, claiming that the bureau was burdened with confidential verifications, intelligence gathering, and a large number of ongoing investigations, which had caused delays in disposing of pending cases.

The court, however, rejected this explanation. It said that such justifications cannot be accepted.

It further noted that arguments citing the retirement or death of officials under investigation were equally untenable.

The court said the responsibility of the ACB does not cease merely because the concerned officer has retired or passed away. Each inquiry must reach its logical conclusion to ensure transparency and accountability.

The High Court has directed the ACB Director General to personally file an affidavit detailing the timeline for completion of the pending inquiries.

The matter has been posted for the next hearing on November 6.

Hyderabad, Oct 22: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Wednesday started questioning Dr Pachipalli Namratha and other accused in Chanchalguda Jail here in connection with the illegal surrogacy racket.

As part of the probe into alleged money laundering, the ED officials were questioning Dr Namratha, her son Pachipala Jayanth Krishna, Muthipeta Nandini, Dhanasri Santoshi Chitikireddi Kalyani, following permission granted by a city court.

The Nampally criminal court permitted the ED to interrogate the accused in jail till October 28.

Last month, the ED conducted searches in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with an illegal surrogacy racket run by Dr Namratha alias Athluri Namratha in the name of Universal Srusthi Fertility & Research Centre

The Central agency had seized incriminating documents, details of couples defrauded and properties in possession of Dr Namratha.

The agency initiated the investigation on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by the Gopalapuram Police Station, Hyderabad, for fraud, cheating, criminal conspiracy, illegal surrogacy and child trafficking.

Busted in August this year, the racket involved cheating couples through fraudulent IVF and surrogacy packages, infant trafficking, forged records and illegal operations even after the clinic’s license was cancelled in 2021.

About 25 accused were arrested in the case, which is being probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Hyderabad Central Crime Station.

Searches conducted by the ED resulted in the seizure of documents, which revealed that Dr Namratha was offering such services to couples across India in different centres in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Kolkata, etc.

The seized documents also revealed that Dr Namratha was involved in these activities for more than 10 years.

She created legal documents in the form of surrogacy agreements to project that the childless couples and carrier (surrogate) themselves approached her, and she was just providing the surrogacy services.

Kolkata, Oct 22: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a charge sheet in the primary teachers’ recruitment corruption case, alleging that many job aspirants were denied teaching positions despite paying substantial sums to influential individuals, investigation agency sources confirmed on Wednesday.

The central probe agency’s charge sheet, filed before a local court, claims that ‘fake interviews’ were conducted for those job seekers who allegedly paid money. The agency leveled these specific allegations against Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya and a former party leader, Bibhas Adhikari.

Giving details about the functioning of the alleged mechanism, sources in the CBI claimed that Adhikari allegedly collected crores of rupees from job seekers on behalf of Bhattacharya.

The CBI recently filed the charge sheet in the primary teachers’ recruitment corruption case before the Bankshal court.

According to the document, agents linked to Bibhas Adhikari were deployed across the state to collect money from the job aspirants. The funds collected by these agents were allegedly routed to Bhattacharya through this close aide, Adhikari.

The charge sheet also names former secretary of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Ratna Chakraborty. The CBI said in the charge sheet that she acted on the instructions of Bhattacharya in matters related to the alleged irregularities.

It may be recalled that Bhattacharya served as the president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, while Adhikari was the former Trinamool Congress president of Nalhati Block II in Birbhum district of the state.

Ratna Chakraborty was the secretary of the primary education board during Bhattacharya’s tenure. The CBI alleged that all three accused were closely involved in the primary teachers’ recruitment scam.

Bhattacharya was earlier arrested in connection with the case and is presently out on bail. Adhikari appeared multiple times before the CBI in the same matter. He was recently arrested in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly operating a fake police station.