Calcutta HC Directs CBI to Probe Bengal Minister For Appointment Of Daughter As Teacher

A bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who is hearing the matter, urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to remove the officer from the post of education minister.

Kolkata High Court building (Source: File photo/Getty)

New Delhi: In an order issued to the CBI on Tuesday, the Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal Minister of State for Education, Paresh Chandra Adhikari to be questioned over the alleged appointment of his daughter as a teacher in a state government-aided school. The minister's name had come to the fore in the irregularities in the recruitment of teachers for classes 11th and 12th in the state. The High Court has directed the minister to appear before the CBI by Tuesday evening.

A bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who is hearing the matter, urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to remove the officer from the post of education minister. 

The petitioner alleged that the education minister's daughter was given a job despite having low marks on the merit list, while the petitioner got better marks, but the job was not given. Petitioner's lawyer Firdous Shamim said that the competitor had secured 77 marks in the recruitment examination, while the minister's daughter got just 61.

Earlier also, Justice Gangopadhyay had ordered a CBI inquiry on four occasions in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointments of teacher and non-teaching staff in government and government-aided schools in the state.

He had ordered former education minister Partha Chatterjee to appear before the agency for questioning, but a division bench later stayed the order. Chatterjee is currently the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Parliamentary Affairs in the cabinet headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.