The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed West Bengal minister Paresh Chandra Adhikari to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by 8 pm on Tuesday after it ordered a CBI probe into allegations of irregularities in the appointment of teachers in classes 11 and 12.
The bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay also urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar to remove Adhikari from the post of minister of state for school education. The court was hearing a petition that accused the minister of helping his daughter secure the job of a school teacher by allegedly tweaking the merit list.
Although the order is yet to be made available, advocate Firdous Shamim, who appeared on behalf of the petitioner, said, “The single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has directed Paresh Chandra Adhikari to appear before the CBI by tonight and also directed the central investigation agency to take over the investigation immediately.”
“The petitioner had secured 20th position in the merit list for a teaching job, but later her position was changed to 21. This happened after the introduction of a candidate named Ankita Adhikari in the merit list. This Ankita Adhikari is the daughter of the state minister Paresh Chandra Adhikari. So by virtue of being the daughter of the state minister her name was included in the merit list despite getting less marks than the petitioner,” the advocate said.
Shamim added, “Despite getting better marks, the petitioner did not get a job; but the daughter of the minister secured a job in a school in Cooch Behar district. She got the appointment letter despite not even appearing in the personality test which is held after the written exam.”
