"Supreme Court Grants Relief to TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, Stays CBI and ED Probe Orders by Calcutta High Court
The Supreme Court, in a recent development, has stayed two orders passed by the Calcutta High Court, which called for fresh investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against former director of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Manik Bhattacharya.
A bench consisting of Justices AS Bopanna and PV Sanjay Kumar provided interim relief to Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya, who had approached the apex court against the orders issued by single-judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on July 25 and July 26.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud took up the matter in his chambers after it was mentioned, and subsequently, the case was listed for a hearing before the division bench at 3 pm.
The division bench took note that Bhattacharya was not a party to the proceedings in the High Court and, therefore, stayed the orders dated 25.07.2023 and 26.07.2023 along with any further proceedings. The stay order emphasized that no prejudice should be caused to Bhattacharya before the apex court makes a final decision on the matter.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court has sought a response from the West Bengal government in relation to this case. Bhattacharya's plea alleges that the single-judge made unwarranted accusations against him, his wife, and son, despite him not being a party to the proceedings.
It's important to note that in one of the challenged orders, Justice Gangopadhyay directed the CBI to present video footage of Bhattacharya's interrogation, which the petitioner believes is unjust since he is already in a correctional home and could not have interfered with the investigation.
The petition, represented by advocate Diksha Rai, emphasized that the central agency probe was ordered without even involving them or hearing the West Bengal Board of Primary Education.
In a separate incident, the Supreme Court had previously partially set aside an interim order by the Calcutta High Court, directing the West Bengal Board of Primary Education to conduct a fresh selection exercise for 32,000 teacher posts by the end of August 2023. This order had stayed Justice Gangopadhyay's decision that had nullified the appointments in connection with an alleged West Bengal school jobs for cash scam.
The single judge, Justice Gangopadhyay, has been handling cases related to illegal recruitment in schools in West Bengal. The court was informed that during the recruitment process in 2016, numerous "untrained" candidates were appointed despite scoring poorly in the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) and other assessments.
The judge deduced that these candidates were given extra marks or maximum marks in aptitude tests, which were merely conducted on paper, to facilitate their recruitment. Furthermore, it was noted that no selection committee was involved in the process, as an external third party handled the selection, unrelated to the Education Board."
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TAGS: Supreme Court Calcutta High Court CBI ED probe TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya relief stay order interim West Bengal government allegations accusations video footage correctional home illegal recruitment Teachers Eligibility Test selection committee.
