Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court directed West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee to appear before the CBI by 5.30 pm on Tuesday in connection with alleged irregularities in appointment of assistant teachers in state government-aided schools.
Chatterjee, who was the state education minister when alleged appointments were made, was directed to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation at its office in Nizam Palace here.
Chatterjee is now the industry, commerce and parliamentary affairs minister of the Mamata Banerjee cabinet.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay directed the minister to appear before the CBI by 5.30 pm on Tuesday for questioning in connection with alleged irregularities in appointment of assistant teachers in government-aided schools.
The order came in a petition by an aspirant for the post, Abdul Gani Ansari, his lawyer said.
The notification for appointment of teachers in state-run schools in West Bengal through SLST was published in 2014 and the recruitment process started in 2016.
However, a series of petitions were filed in the Calcutta High Court alleging anomalies in the recruitment process. The petitioners alleged that many examinees who got less marks ranked high in the merit list. There were also allegations that some applicants, who weren’t even in the merit list, received appointment letters.
In the second case, the West Bengal government had, in 2016, issued a notification to the School Service Commission (SSC) to recruit 13,000 Group-D employees for state-run/aided schools. In 2019, the panel making the appointments had expired, but at least 25 persons were allegedly appointed by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.
(with inputs from PTI)
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