THE CALCUTTA High Court on Tuesday imposed a stay for two weeks on a Single Bench’s order that directed the CBI to conduct an investigation into alleged irregularities in the appointment of ‘Group-D’ staff in state-run schools by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) on purported recommendations by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC).
A Division Bench comprising Justices Harish Tandon and Rabindranath Samanta observed with dismay that the impugned order had virtually rendered invalid an earlier order passed by the same Division Bench wherein a similar direction for initiating a CBI probe had been quashed.
The court proceeded to impose a stay for two weeks on the impugned order and also on any further proceedings before the Single Bench. The Division Bench will hear the matter next on February 21.
Earlier on the day, a single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay issued an order that had directed the CBI to institute a probe into the alleged recruitment scam. This was done despite the fact that the Division Bench had quashed Justice Gangopadhyay’s earlier order in November last year wherein a similar CBI probe had been ordered.
Justice Gangopadhyay had expressed displeasure at the functioning of the inquiry committee constituted by the Division Bench and accordingly proceeded to dissolve the inquiry committee. The CBI was further directed to submit a preliminary inquiry report within four weeks. He had further directed the CBI to get all the required documents from the Chairman of the inquiry committee by 10am on Wednesday.
The Division Bench noted in its order that due to the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the process of inquiry could not be activated at the required pace.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/calcutta-hc-stays-single-bench-order-for-cbi-investigation-7775735/
