Give petitioner teacher’s job in place of minister’s daughter: Calcutta HC

HT Correspondent

KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Friday ordered the state government to appoint a woman as a high school teacher in place of Bengal minister Paresh Adhikari’s daughter Ankita Adhikari, who had illegally secured the job.

The woman, Babita Sarkar, was not selected for the post in 2018 despite being eligible.

Sarkar’s lawyer, Firdous Shamim, said the court had ordered that she be given the appointment letter by June 30 so that she may join duty in July.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who passed the order, had earlier cancelled Adhikari’s appointment, ruling that Sarkar deserved the job because she topped the original merit list which was later fudged to accommodate undeserving candidates. On Friday, he ruled that Sarkar would take up Adhikari’s post at the Indira Girls High School at Mekhligunj in Cooch Behar district. He had earlier ordered Adhikari to return the full salary of her 43-month service — she deposited around Rs 7.94 lakh as the first instalment.

“The court said that the money should be given to Sarkar,” said Shamim.

Justice Gangopadhyay described the appointments as a “shameless” act, said a lawyer who was privy to the hearing.

Adhikari was appointed by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) at the recommendation of the state School Service Commission (SSC).

The court had found during earlier hearings that the minister’s daughter did not even appear for the personality test.

“The court’s order has overwhelmed me. I am grateful. I will use this money to help people,” Sarkar said after the judgment was passed.

Justice Gangopadhyay also ordered a fine of ₹ 100 on Ankita Adhikari’s lawyer for challenging his earlier order before a division bench. The SSC had also challenged the order of the single bench but the division bench of justice Ananda Kumar Mukherjee and justice Subrata Talukdar upheld the order of justice Gangopadhyay on May 18.

Minister Paresh Adhikari refused to comment. “It is improper to say anything on a sub judice matter,” he said.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “Our party has nothing to say on the issue since it is a legal matter.”