West Bengal CM gives sanction to CBI to prosecute officials in several scams

Emphasising that his government is adopting a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on corruption, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday (May 13, 2026) gave sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute officials allegedly involved in several scams.

Mr. Adhikari gave sanction to the CBI to prosecute officials involved in the teacher’s recruitment scam, municipality recruitment scam and cooperative scam which had been withheld by the previous Trinamool Congress government.

“The previous government had kept this permission on hold to save corrupt bureaucrats and officials. The CBI or any other investigating agency appointed by the court has to take permission from the state government as per the law to ensure punishment of corrupt officials or to file charge sheets against them. We have given the necessary permission to the CBI to take action against corrupt officials of the three departments,” Mr. Adhikari said.

The Chief Minister said that the BJP government in West Bengal has raised many expectations and his government is adopting a ‘zero tolerance’ policy when it comes to corruption.

“Our party manifesto also mentioned taking action against institutional corruption. The people of the state will see more steps in that regard in the coming days. We have started the work,” he said. The teacher’s recruitment scam and the municipal recruitment scam had rocked the previous Trinamool Congress government, resulting in the arrest of several Trinamool leaders. On May 11, the Enforcement Directorate arrested former Trinamool Minister Sujit Bose in a municipal recruitment scam.

In another development, the Chief Minister announced that the policy of the previous government relating to a ban on the sale of potatoes to other states stands lifted with immediate effect.

“Potato farmers and potato traders will no longer have to face harassment,” the Chief Minister said. After the price of potatoes had crashed over the past few years, the Trinamool Congress had imposed a ban on sending the state’s potatoes to other states. The police and other government departments used to search the border areas of the State.

This year West Bengal witnessed a bumper potato crop and this season, prices of the tuber fell, resulting in the drop of prices. This resulted in widespread agrarian distress and resulted in the defeat of the Trinamool Congress government. The BJP won 16 out of 18 assembly seats in the Hooghly district, which is one of the biggest producers of potatoes in the State.