Cal HC asks CBI to take CRPF help in securing School Service Commission office

Kolkata, May 18 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court, in a late night order, directed that the CBI take assistance of the CRPF in securing the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) office here by 00.30 of Thursday, taking note of a prayer by a petitioner seeking preservation of appointment records of teaching and non-teaching staff.

In a seemingly unprecedented decision, the court took up the hearing of the matter at 11 pm on Wednesday and ordered that no official or any other person will be allowed to enter the SSC office at Acharya Sadan here till further orders.

The single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, while hearing the case at his chamber in the court, also ordered that CCTV footage of the SSC office premises be placed before it by the commission on Thursday at 1.00 pm.

The CBI has been entrusted with the investigation of eight matters related to the irregularities in appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff in government-run and -aided schools of the state.

The prayer for security was made following the sudden resignation of SSC chairman Siddhartha Majumder on Wednesday.

Petitioner's lawyer Bikash Bhattacharya appealed before the court of Justice Gangopadhyay for an order to direct the central police force to secure the SSC office for preservation of the documents, expressing apprehension that these may be tampered with otherwise.

Upholding a single bench order for a CBI probe into the appointment-related irregularities, a division bench of the high court, earlier in the day, accepted a report of a committee headed by Justice (retd) R K Bag, which recommended criminal proceedings against four former top officials of state School Service Commission, and the current president of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.

State minister Partha Chatterjee, who held the education portfolio when the scam was pulled off, appeared for questioning before the CBI on Wednesday evening, in accordance with the directions of the court. PTI AMR RMS RMS