Orders To CBI To Probe Alleged ‘Illegal’ Appointments By State’s Primary Education Board: In Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court commanded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into the State’s primary education board’s hiring of teachers for government-aided primary schools.
In the case of Ramesh Malik & Others v. The State of West Bengal & Ors (WPA 7907 of 2019), a single judge bench presided over by Honourable Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered the CBI to file a FIR to begin an investigation into claims that the board improperly hired teachers in 2014 based on the teachers’ eligibility test.
Additionally, it was mandated that the primary education board’s secretary Ratna Chakraborti Bagchi and president Manik Bhattacharya appear before the CBI at its office on Monday by 5 p.m.
” I direct the Central Bureau of Investigation (the “CBI” for short) to begin its investigation by filing a case against the Board as soon as possible and to begin questioning Dr. Manik Bhatta, the president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, regarding the illegality committed in relation to the second panel (referred to as the Additional Panel by the Board’s Secretary), which is completely illegal and giving illegal appointments to 269 candidates by a queer method against the law. I order the petitioners to list Dr. Manik Bhattacharya, the West Bengal Board of Primary Education’s president, and Dr. Ratna Chakraborty Bagchi, the board’s secretary, as party respondents. They are to appear today at 5:30 p.m. at the CBI office at Nizam Palace to undergo questioning.”, the Court ordered.
Facts of the case:
In the current case, the petitioner claimed that 269 candidates out of roughly 23 lakh applicants in the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014 were given an additional “one” number for a wrong question. A second panel with the names of these 269 candidates, according to him, was published in 2017.
The Court noted that the appointments of these 269 candidates were null and void, maintaining that the second panel was unlawful. As a result, the Court mandated that the salaries of these teachers, who work in various state-run schools, be stopped, and that they not be permitted to enter their respective workplaces.
According to reports, Chakraborti Bagchi and Bhattacharya both appeared before the CBI on Monday and were questioned for more than four hours as a result of the High Court’s orders.
On June 15 at 2:00 pm, there will be another hearing on the subject.
In at least eight cases of alleged illegalities in the appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in government-sponsored and -aided schools, Justice Gangopadhyay had previously ordered CBI investigations.
In a related development, Justice Gangopadhyay directed the CBI to investigate a case involving the hiring of primary teachers last week and mandated that the central organization submit its findings in a sealed envelope by June 15. The Court was informed that Chandan Mondal of Bagda, North 24 Parganas had been named by former state minister and IPS officer Upendra Nath Biswas for allegedly offering primary school teaching positions in exchange for cash.
The Court had emphasized in its order for a CBI investigation, “A serious accusation of serious corruption has been brought before this court by one responsible party, who was none other than the Ex-Additional Director of the CBI and a Cabinet Minister of the State Government in the first five years of the Government. I believe the CBI needs to look into this matter in great detail, and that investigation needs to get underway right away. Without disrespecting the authority of the Police in this State, I believe that the CBI is the proper authority to conduct the investigation. While the Police in this State are generally very effective, they are controlled by some individuals in positions of authority and cannot act freely.”
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Judgement Reviewed By Manju Molakalapalli.