WBTET: Calcutta HC reserves judgment on WB govt appeal challenging single bench order

KOLKATA: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday reserved judgement on appeals filed by the West Bengal government and others challenging orders of a single bench that directed CBI investigation into allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in state-sponsored and -aided primary schools.

The government, the Primary School Education Board and others moved the appeals against Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s order instituting a CBI probe into the appointments of 269 candidates, who got the benefit of adding one mark, and termination of their service as primary teachers.

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A division bench comprising justices Subrata Talukdar and Lapita Banerji reserved judgement in the appeals following the conclusion of arguments by the appellants and the petitioner. During pleadings, West Bengal Primary School Education Board admitted before the division bench that discrimination was made as all of the more than 20 lakh candidates who appeared for a Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014 were not granted an additional mark for a wrong question, while also asserting that there was no criminality involved in it.

The petitioner, an aggrieved candidate, submitted that a proper investigation is required for revealing the reasons and criteria for granting the additional mark.