Kolkata, Feb. 11 -- Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya has approached Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee praying for his monthly salary during the 23 months period of his incarceration in Presidency Central Correctional Home in connection with teacher recruitment scam.
Bhattacharya has claimed an allowance to the tune of Rs 23 lakh. Assembly sources said he earlier had sent letters to the Speaker requesting the same. The Speaker on Tuesday conducted a hearing where Bhattacharya cited legal aspects in support of his allowance claim. The Speaker has kept the matter pending for now.
An Assembly secretariat official said the Speaker has sought the opinion of the Advocate General (AG) on the matter. The latter has given a note citing various Supreme Court observations on the issue. The Speaker is yet to take a call.
Bhattacharya, an MLA from Palashipara in Nadia was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in October 2022. Several of his bank accounts were seized by the probe agency. However, presently he is drawing his salary as an MLA from the Assembly after he was granted bail by Calcutta High Court in September 2024.
The state Assembly has examined the medical bills that he had submitted during his incarceration and cross-checked the same with the correctional home authorities. Assembly sources said that he will soon receive disbursement against the medical bills, excluding the medical expenditure borne by the correctional home authorities.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.