Calcutta HC stays order for CBI probe into school appts – Times of India

Kolkata: A Calcutta High Court division bench stayed a single bench’s stop-salary order on 573 employees appointed by West Bengal State School Service Commission within hours of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay cancelling the court-appointed inquiry committee and handing over the matter to CBI for investigation.
A division bench of justices Harish Tandon and Rabindranath Samanta ordered the stay following an instant appeal by the state government on Tuesday.
The division bench ordered restoration of salary and a stay on CBI investigation for one week or until further orders, and fixed the hearing for February 21.
Justice Gangopadhyay, while handing over investigation to CBI on Tuesday, had noted that the committee appointed by the division bench didn’t file any interim report with the court on February 14 as directed by the bench. “Nobody also appealed before this court on behalf of the committee to state why the report was not filed,” he had observed.
The judge held that the committee had shown “disrespect to the court”. “I again impose a CBI inquiry in the matter,” the court had ordered. Months ago, Justice Gangopadhyay had ordered a CBI inquiry that was turned down by the division bench.
On Wednesday, the division bench again ordered a stay of operation for one week. The bench held it had appointed a special team, monitored by a retired HC judge, to make an extensive inquiry in order to reveal the truth and find out if any irregularities were committed in the appointment process.
“The attention of the division bench was drawn by the committee that due to the Covid third wave, the process of enquiry could not be activated at requisite pace. But the committee made substantial progress and sought more time to complete the inquiry. The division bench granted it,” the bench said.