Hiring of primary teachers: HC orders CBI investigation

KOLKATA: A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered a CBI inquiry into the recruitment of primary teachers which was conducted by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) in 2014.

The bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay also dismissed the employment of 269 candidates for the post of primary teachers. The court observed that these 269 candidates secured jobs after failing to qualify in the written examination.

WBBPE has been asked to stop payment of salaries to these 269 candidates and also ensure that they are not able to enter the respective schools.

The Court observed that in the revised merit list, these 269 candidates were awarded one additional mark each. The WBBPE authorities explained that this additional one mark for each of these 269 candidates was awarded because of some error in the question paper. The Court did not find the logic convincing enough.

In another development, the WBBPE President Manik Bhattacharya and the board's Secretary Ratna Chakraborty (Bagchi) appeared before the CBI questioning at the Nizam Palace.

Both the officials went to the CBI office on time.