A day after expressing disgust at the slow functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing a multitude of school-level recruitment scams, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the central agency to form a dedicated Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged corruption in the recruitment of primary level school teachers.
More popularly known as the Teacher’s Eligibility Test scam it would be investigated under the court’s supervision.
Retired Joint Director of the CBI, Upen Biswas who had successfully probed the Bihar animal husbandry scam was made a party to the instant case — after he told media channels that he, too, was approached by some agents with “offers” from the recruitment racketeers.
Biswas reportedly requested the Court of Justice Abhijit Gandopadhyay to form a SIT for better handling of the case. Justice Gangopadhyay had earlier ordered a number of CBI probes into a multitude of recruitment scams that took place in the past several years.
Biswas a former Trinamool Congress Minister came into the picture after he alleged that a person had approached him with offers and offered to help the CBI if he was asked to do so. In the same context the Court asked the “respected” retired officer to help the CBI.
“There are thousands of such agents … the CBI has to catch the “spider” in the middle of the cobweb,” Biswas said.
The Judge directed the CBI to form a SIT of at least 15 officers under a Joint Director who would investigate the TET scam only and submit a report before the Court on June 17.
The same Court had a few days ago dismissed from services 269 teachers who had secured their jobs through “backdoor.”
The Court had earlier ordered CBI probe into the appointment of Group D, Group C, Secondary and Higher Secondary teachers (conducted by the School Service Commission) and directed the Agency to even to take into custody the ministers and top bureaucrats if required to hasten the probe process.
The Judge had dismissed Ankita Adhikari — the daughter of junior Education Minister Paresh Adhikari — who was working as a teacher teaching political science in Class XI and XII at a school in Coochbehar.
Though the CBI had interrogated senior Bengal Minister Partho Chatterjee and Adhikari, apart from some senior bureaucrats and chairmen of various Boards the Judge looked unhappy with the slow progress of the investigation and expressing disgust earlier said: “I expect the CBI will do exemplary work in the probe process. I hope that this investigation does not face the same fate as the Saradha chit fund scam. My only wish is that those deprived because of corruption get proper employment scope.”
The lawyers representing the CBI however told the court that results in the teacher recruitment cases will soon be visible as a new joint director has joined the Kolkata office. N Venugopal replaced Pankaj Srivastava as joint director on Monday.
Srivastava was investigating Sharada, Narada and other cases.
The court had earlier set up a judicial commission led by retired Justice RK Bag. The Commission had submitted a damaging report implicating the Ministers and bureaucrats and suggested that criminal cases be registered against them.
Meanwhile, CBI officials, on Wednesday afternoon conducted a raid at the office of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) and seized all the documents pertaining to the recruitment.