The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered dismissal of West Bengal minister Paresh Chandra Adhikary’s daughter Ankita Adhikary as an assistant teacher in a government-aided school and asked her to return the entire salary since the date of her joining.
It was alleged that the appointment of the minister’s daughter was illegal as it was made by changing the merit list.
The single-judge bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay directed Ankita to return her salary since November 2018 in two instalments. Also, he ordered her to submit the first installment to the High Court Registrar on June 7.
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Paresh Adhikary, the Minister of State for School Education, and Ankita were booked on Thursday by the CBI under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with her appointment on the HC orders.
Ankita has been teaching political science to classes 11 and 12 at Mekhliganj Indira Girls High School Indira Girls High School.
Firdous Shamim, the lawyer of petitioner Babita Sarkar, said, “Ankita Adhikary has to deposit 41-month salary in two installments to the HC registrar on June 7 and July 7. Ankita or any of her relatives will not be allowed to enter the school premises till the court issues fresh order. Ankita can’t even introduce herself as an assistant teacher.”
The court has even “earmarked” the post held by Ankita for Babita Sarkar, he claimed.
Babita Sarkar had filed a plea alleging that she was deprived of the assistant teacher’s job despite having secured higher marks than Ankita in the recruitment test. She had secured 77 marks in the test, while the minister’s daughter had 61, it was claimed.
Babita said, “It is a victory of truth. It stands proved that she had not got the job on merit. It has been a long fight. When the merit list was changed first, I didn’t know who she was but I had written to the School Service Commission (SSC) about it.”
Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The High Court is infusing a new hope among people by returning them their rights. Now it has been proved that the minister used his influence to secure a government job for his daughter. You will find such cases in every house of Trinamool Congress leaders.”
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party doesn’t support any unethical practices. “I would not like to comment on the court’s order. But if something is right is right. The TMC doesn’t support anything wrong or unethical,” he added.
Earlier in the day, the minister reached the CBI office for questioning for the second time at the agency’s Nizam Palace office in Kolkata. On Thursday, he was questioned by the agency officials for more than 5 hours.