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Journalism of Courage
Even 24 hours after the Calcutta High Court directed him to appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Minister of State for School Education Paresh Chandra Adhikari is yet to visit the central agency’s office in Kolkata’s Nizam Palace for questioning over the alleged appointment of his daughter as a teacher in a government-aided school.
A single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had on Tuesday directed the minister to “must appear before the CBI by Tuesday evening” for interrogation over the allegation. The order came on a petition by a teaching job aspirant, who alleged that she was deprived of a job despite having secured more marks than the minister’s daughter in the recruitment examination in 2018.
Petitioner’s lawyer Firdous Shamim claimed that Babita Sarkar had secured 77 marks in the recruitment examination, while the minister’s daughter Ankita got only 61.
Seeking a stay on the single bench’s order, the minister’s lawyers on Wednesday moved to the division bench of Justice Harish Tandon, who refused to hear his appeal. Now, the appeal will be sent to the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava, who will assign a division bench that will hear the matter. Sources said the matter is likely to come up for the hearing on Wednesday when a division bench is assigned.
Meanwhile, Sarkar’s advocate went to the CBI office seeking updates on Adhikari and whether he has communicated with the central agency. Sources said the petitioner is likely to file a contempt of court case against Adhikari for not abiding by the court order.
Last night, Adhikari and his daughter boarded Padatik Express from Jalpaiguri Road station to Kolkata. However, instead of coming to the state capital, both got off the train at Burdwan Junction station in East Burdwan district. Since then, there has been no information on their whereabouts. His mobile phone remained switched off throughout the day.
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