In yet another judicial setback for the Bengal Government the Calcutta High Court has ordered a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities in the appointment of teachers in Government-aided schools.

Saying that it was “extremely surprising” that some candidates were given appointment despite their names not being there in the merit list Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said that prima facie he was of the opinion that such irregularities could not have taken place without the connivance of the senior officers of the School Selection Commission. The petitioner had appeared for the test in 2016 but came to know about the irregularities in 2021 where after she moved the court, the advocate representing her said. The court directed the central investigating agency to file a preliminary report on March 28, the next date of hearing.

The petitioner had drawn the attention of the court to the fact that some of the appointees were neither from the panel of the selected candidates published in 2016 or from the waiting list for that matter.”I direct the Director, Central Bureau of Investigation to constitute a committee, headed by an officer not below the rank of a Joint Director, with officers not below the rank of DIG to initiate the enquiry. It is expected that no person connected with the matter willbe left out of this enquiry,” the Judge said in his order on Monday.

Justice Gangopadhyay however clarified that it was not that the Court did not have any confidence on the State police, but for obvious reasons the matter was being given to the CBI for investigation. The Judge said that there was a need to know the “mastermind in thisdirty game” which was why the CBI probe was being ordered.