Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday staged a protest outside the State Assembly over extra teachers’ recruitment drive passed by the state cabinet. West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari said that the current cabinet led by Mamata Banerjee should tender their apology.
He said, “It’s a big scam. This cabinet, sworn in under the Constitution, recommended in Calcutta High Court through a cabinet note that non-qualified persons should be accommodated in recruitment. Mamata Banerjee and her cabinet should go behind the bars.”
Adhikari further said that the party had moved a motion for discussion over extra teachers’ allotment, but it was rejected. BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul too accused the ruling party TMC and said that State Government planned that a non-qualified person who will be sacked, would be appointed to these posts. “Excess posts were created in Education Department. State Government planned that non-qualified persons who will be sacked, will be appointed to these posts. Education Secretary revealed this before the Court. We demand that the cabinet be arrested as they’re doing corruption,” Agnimitra Paul said.
Notably, in an interim order, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Calcutta High Court order, directing the CBI to start an inquiry into the source of an application in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointment of teachers through the West Bengal Central School Service Commission. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli issued a notice to the respondent in the plea.
On November 23, a single judge of the Calcutta High Court held that prima facie, the application filed by the Commission is a ‘benami application’. The Single Judge proceeded to enquire of the counsel as to whether or not he had drafted the application. Though a request appears to have been made before the high court to withdraw the application, it declined to allow the withdrawal on the ground that it would enquire into “who are pulling the strings from behind such application”. The proceedings were listed thereafter at 3 pm on the same day.
At 3 pm on the same day, the files were produced before the high court in pursuance of its earlier directions. The single judge directed the CBI to commence an inquiry with regard to the source from which the application originated. The proceedings were thereafter listed at 10.30 am November 24, on which date the principal secretary to the West Bengal government was directed to appear personally to answer some of the questions that the single judge intended to address since “the filing of such an application is clearly not the brainchild of the Commission”.
The orders of the single judge were challenged before the division bench of Calcutta HC, which dismissed the appeals. West Bengal then moved the Supreme Court against the order of the Calcutta High Court. (ANI)
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