Are Central teams targeting TMC leaders ahead of Assembly polls?

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have once again sprung into action in West Bengal as the state gears up for next year’s Assembly elections.

In the past few days, the CBI raided the residence of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Sudipta Roy in connection with the ongoing investigation into alleged financial irregularities at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The ED, on the other hand, arrested another legislator of the state’s ruling party, Jiban Krishna Saha, as part of its probe into the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.

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Saha was arrested on Monday (August 25) and has been remanded to ED custody until Saturday (August 30).

The ED's investigation claimed that Saha had multiple suspicious financial transactions linked to his family members. Notably, a sum of Rs 26 lakh was deposited into the bank account of his wife, Tagori Saha, between September and December 2020. The agency’s sources suspect funds were parked in the accounts of the politician’s other relatives.

It has become a nationwide trend for central agencies to suddenly become active against Opposition leaders ahead of elections. The same is happening in West Bengal. There’s no doubt that most TMC leaders are involved in corruption, but instead of securing convictions, the central agencies appear to be keener on politicising the cases.

His dramatic arrest is part of a broader investigation into the SSC recruitment scam in which several political and administrative figures, including former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and former president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya, were implicated.

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The raid at Roy's residence on Tuesday (August 26) was related to alleged misappropriation of hospital equipment for personal use, establishing unauthorised stalls on hospital grounds, and diverting patients to his own nursing home, sources in the CBI said.

The MLA allegedly facilitated irregular staff appointments and fake admissions to academic courses.

While these high-profile actions have drawn attention, they have also raised questions.

Not many convinced by twin MLA raids

Based on the past track record of central agencies, many believe that such actions often intensify in the lead-up to elections but rarely result in solid legal outcomes.

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The TMC questioned the timing and frequency of the actions. Party leader Apurba Sarkar dubbed them politically motivated and accused the central agencies of political bias.

Political allegations aside, there is also a growing sense that central agencies have not followed through effectively on many of the major cases they took up in the state.

Even state BJP is less enthusiastic

Even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in opposition in Bengal, recently expressed its no-confidence in the central agency’s probe.

“We do not want a CBI probe. Let the state police investigate. Mamata Banerjee’s police are paid with your and my tax money, so let them do their job. The truth should come out through a proper investigation,” remarked BJP general secretary and MLA Agnimitra Paul, following the rape of a student at a law college in Kolkata in June this year.

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The CBI was “not successful” in probing the RG Kar case, she said, explaining why the party was not insisting on the investigation by the agency.

Though the BJP later distanced itself from Paul’s remark after the TMC took a dig at it for showing no confidence in the CBI, party sources said the state unit conveyed its unhappiness to the central leadership over the slow progress in high-profile cases in the state that central agencies are handling.

Judge calls CBI 'gallery show'

The judiciary has also expressed its displeasure on several occasions in recent years over the progress of investigations by central agencies.

The Calcutta High Court on Monday refused to hand over to the CBI a probe into the alleged murder of two BJP workers in East Midnapore district in July this year as it would turn into “a gallery show”.

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“The CBI is a gallery show right now. If I give it to the CBI, it will just be a gallery show,” Justice Tirthankar Ghosh remarked, implying that such investigations tend to be more about optics than outcomes.

Last month, a special CBI court pulled up the central agency for failing to produce an original copy of a crucial complaint letter in the RG Kar corruption case.

Cases collapsing

Several major cases investigated by central agencies have also begun to collapse in court.

A striking example is the Saradha chit-fund scam.

Despite years of investigation, Sudipta Sen, the main accused, was recently acquitted in three cases due to a lack of evidence. Although he remains in jail as an undertrial in other cases, the acquittals have cast doubt on the thoroughness of the CBI’s investigations.

Other investigations have also raised concerns. The RG Kar rape-murder case, for instance, has seen a slow pace and procedural lapses. Similar delays and inefficiencies were witnessed in the investigation of the school recruitment scam. Even in cases where charges are filed, there is little follow-up.

The case of Saha illustrates this point. He was arrested by the CBI in April 2023 but was granted bail in May 2025. His recent arrest by the ED, just months later, gives the impression of repeated action without substantial legal progress.

A similar pattern appeared in another case. On August 21, the CBI named TMC MLA Paresh Pal and two councillors in a supplementary chargesheet related to the murder of a BJP worker. However, the court granted them anticipatory bail due to a lack of direct evidence. Once again, questions are being raised about the strength and fairness of these investigations.

'Central agencies become active ahead of polls'

“It has become a nationwide trend for central agencies to suddenly become active against Opposition leaders ahead of elections. The same is happening in West Bengal. There’s no doubt that most TMC leaders are involved in corruption, but instead of securing convictions, the central agencies appear to be keener on politicising the cases,” said Ranajit Mukherjee, a senior member of the Political Affairs Committee of Bengal Pradesh Congress.

The sluggish progress of investigations is evident in the mounting backlog of cases. The CBI alone is grappling with a pendency of over 900 cases, some of which have remained unresolved for more than 20 years. This backlog includes not only politically sensitive cases but also crucial criminal and corruption investigations.

“This suggests a troubling pattern. Central agencies often launch high-profile actions before elections, but many of these cases either fail to stand up in court or remain stuck in the system for years. This raises valid questions about whether the current pre-poll activity is aimed at genuine accountability or simply political messaging,” said Naba Pallab Roy, a Kolkata-based lawyer.

Considering the dismal track record of the central agencies, their latest flurry of activities risks being seen as much ado about nothing.