HC removes minister’s daughter from post

HT Correspondent

KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered Ankita Adhikary, the daughter of West Bengal’s junior education minister Paresh Adhikary, to return the salary which she has received as a school teacher since 2018 and also barred her from entering the school premises where she was working.

“Ankita Adhikary shall not be treated as a teacher recommended by the School Service Commission and appointed by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education until further order passed by this court,” said the order. “The concerned Dishours. trict Inspector of Schools is directed not to pay any salary to said Ms. Ankita Adhikary until further order by this court,” the order added.

Meanwhile, officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation quizzed Paresh Adhikary for the second time in two days in connection with his daughter’s recruitment. On Wednesday he was questioned for nearly three

His daughter didn’t show up for questioning. Paresh Adhikary joined the ruling Trinamool Congress in 2018. Allegations surfaced that Ankita was selected as a government school teacher, bypassing candidates who secured higher marks than her in State Level Selection Test.

The federal agency has already filed a FIR against the minister, his daughter and other “unknown public servants” under sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Petitioner Babita Sarkar told the Calcutta high court that while she scored 77 in the recruitment exam held in 2016, Ankita scored 61 and didn’t ever appear for the personality test. Despite that Ankita was given rank one and recruited.

The opposition slammed the TMC . “Such cases can be found in almost every TMC family because their father, mother or brother is a TMC leader,” said Adhir Chowdhury, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha.

TMC said that the party won’t support or try to hide someone’s wrongdoings. “It won’t be right to comment on a court order. The TMC won’t support if anyone has done anything wrong,” said Kunal Ghosh, TMC spokesperson.

CBI HAS ALREADY FILED FIR AGAINST THE MINISTER, HIS DAUGHTER AND OTHER “UNKNOWN PUBLIC SERVANTS”