Calcutta High Court Orders CBI To Probe Alleged 'Illegal' Appointments By State's Primary Education Board

The Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into recruitment of teachers in government-aided primary schools by the State's primary education board.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay directed the CBI to file an FIR to initiate an investigation into alleged illegal recruitment of teachers by the board based on the teachers' eligibility test in 2014.

Furthermore, the primary education board secretary Ratna Chakraborti Bagchi and president Manik Bhattacharya were also ordered to appear before the CBI at its office later by 5pm on Monday. 

"In view of the illegality committed in respect of the second panel (termed as Additional Panel, by the Secretary of the Board), which is wholly illegal and giving illegal appointment to 269 candidates by a queer method unknown to law, I direct the Central Bureau of Investigation ('CBI', for short) to start investigation by registering a case immediately against the Board and start interrogating the President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Dr. Manik Bhattacharya, and the Secretary of the said Board Dr. Ratna Chakraborty Bagchi, which shall start today itself. I direct the petitioners to add Dr. Manik Bhattacharya, the President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education and Dr. Ratna Chakraborty Bagchi, the Secretary of the said Board as party respondents and they are to go to the CBI office at Nizam Palace by 5:30 p.m. today to face interrogation", the Court ordered. 

In the instant case, the petitioner had alleged that the 269 candidates were given an additional 'one' number for a wrong question out of around 23 lakh aspirants in the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014. He claimed that a second panel with names of these 269 candidates was published in 2017.

Maintaining that the second panel was illegal, the Court observed that the appointments of these 269 candidates were void. Accordingly, the Court ordered that the salaries of these teachers working in various schools of the state be stopped and directed that they should be disallowed from entering their respective places of work.

Reportedly, both Chakraborti Bagchi and Bhattacharya, in the wake of the High Court directions, appeared before the CBI on Monday and were questioned for more than four hours.

The matter is slated for further hearing on June 15 at 2pm. 

Justice Gangopadhyay had earlier ordered CBI investigations 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.

In a related development, Justice Gangopadhyay last week ordered a CBI probe in a case related to primary teacher recruitment and directed the central agency to submit their report in a closed envelope on June 15. The Court was apprised that former state minister and IPS officer Upendra Nath Biswas had named one Chandan Mondal of Bagda, North 24 Parganas for allegedly giving jobs of primary school teachers in lieu of money.

Ordering for a CBI probe, the Court had underscored, "Serious allegation by one responsible person, who was none other than the Ex-Additional Director of CBI and a Cabinet Minister of the State Government in the first five years of the Government, has come before this court which is serious corrupt practice. I hold this aspect is to be thoroughly investigated by the CBI and such investigation is required to be started forthwith. The Police of this State is otherwise very efficient but controlled by some persons in power and cannot act freely which is common knowledge and without showing any disrespect to the Police authority I hold that CBI is the appropriate authority to investigate the matter."

Case Title: Ramesh Malik & Ors v. The State of West Bengal & Ors

Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Cal) 237

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