Bengal govt challenges Calcutta High Court's order on CBI probe in WBSSC recruitment scam

The Mamata government on Friday challenged the order of the single-judge bench of Justice Avijit Genopathy for an CBI enquiry in the teacher recruitment irregularities for Classes 9 and 10 by West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

The state government approached the Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Harish Tandon challenging the single-judge bench order.

However, Justice Tandon recused from hearing the case. The matter is likely to be heard by the division bench of Justice Subrata Talukdar, which is already hearing the matter relating to Group C and Group D non-teaching staff irregularities by WBSSC.

Worth mentioning on this count is that so far Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay had ordered CBI probe in five cases pertaining to the recruitment irregularities for different posts of WBSSC.

The opposition parties in West Bengal, including the BJP and the Left Front have already alleged that whenever any single-judge bench order on a CBI probe goes against the state government, the latter challenges it in the division bench to delay the process of justice. On the other hand, the ruling Trinamool Congress has claimed that while the Left Front and the Congress welcomed the CBI probe in West Bengal, they oppose the central agency elsewhere in the country against their leaders.

On Thursday, the state government approached the division bench of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava seeking a stay on a single- judge bench order for CBI enquiry in the murder of Tapan Kandu, a newly- appointed Congress councillor of Jhalda Municipality in Purulia district of West Bengal. The state government has also appealed for a hearing on a fast-track basis in the matter.