WBBPE scam: Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe over destruction of OMR sheets

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a CBI probe on the alleged destruction of the OMR sheets of the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) 2014.

According to CBI sources, at least 12 lakh 95 thousand OMR sheets were destroyed out of 20 lakh candidates who had appeared for the examination following which the recruitment of primary teachers was done in 2016 and 2020.

Earlier this day, Justice Abhijit Ganguly also asked Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA and former president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya to appear before CBI by 8 pm on Tuesday as the alleged irregularities had happened during his tenure.

Justice Ganguly had also said that the CBI can also arrest Bhattacharya if he fails to appear before the central agency.

It may be noted that Bhattacharya had earlier moved the Supreme Court and the apex court on Tuesday gave relief to Bhattacharya till the next hearing scheduled on Wednesday.

The lawyer of Bhattacharya claimed that his client was in the national capital.

It is pertinent to mention that in June this year, the Calcutta High Court had ordered the removal of Bhattacharya from the post of the president of the board following which the ruling party replaced him.

Senior CPI (M) leader and lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said that at least 15 lakh OMR sheets were ‘recycled’.

Meanwhile, the protesting job aspirants urged the state government to give them jobs before Durga Puja.

State education minister Bratya Basu said that the jobs will be given as per the court’s instruction and asked the protestors to return to their homes and withdraw the protest.