Calcutta HC dismisses Bengal education minister's daughter's job, asks her to return salary

KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court on Friday dismissed the employment of West Bengal Minister of State for Education Paresh Chandra Adhikari's daughter in a government-aided school and asked her to return the salary she had drawn during her tenure as a teacher.

The single bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay directed Ankita Adhikari to deposit the salary paid to her in November 2018 in two instalments with the registrar. The high court was hearing a petition filed by a candidate who claimed that she was deprived of the position despite having secured higher marks than Adhikari's daughter in the recruitment examination.

Earlier in the day, the minister reached the CBI office here for interrogation over his daughter's alleged illegal appointment. The central agency had on Thursday filed an FIR against Adhikari after he failed to meet the deadline set by the high court for appearance before its sleuths in connection with the case.

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Adhikari, along with his daughter, was booked under IPC sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), besides sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act.