SSC scam: Calcutta High Court asks petitioner to be appointed in place of minister Paresh Adhikary’s daughter

The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the petitioner in the SSC scam case – Babita Sarkar — to be appointed as teacher in place of West Bengal junior education minister Paresh Adhikary’s daughter Ankita Adhikary. The latter was earlier asked by the court to resign and submit the salary she had drawn since her appointment.

The petitioner, based in Siliguri, had moved court on not being appointed though her name was in the waiting list of the School Service Commission (SSC) along with the minister’s daughter. Ankita Adhikary’s name came after Babita Sarkar though the minister’s daughter got the job. The court has now asked Babita Sarkar to be appointed within ten days, and to consider her appointment from the day Ankita Adhikary had joined service and all her financial dues are also to be cleared thus. Her appointment is to be given by June 30 and the minister’s daughter’s returned salary should be given to Babita Sarkar along with 10 days’ interest, as per the order.

Ankita Adhikary had got the job allegedly after the merit list was manipulated. Babita Sarkar was ranked 20 in the waiting list while Ankita Adhikary’s name was after her, and though the minister’s daughter got an appointment as teacher, Babita Sarkar didn’t, prompting her to move court. There were allegedly hundreds of illegal recruitments made in government-aided schools on recommendations of the School Service Commission (SSC). The court had also asked Ankita to not enter the school nor introduce herself as teacher, till a further order.

Earlier, the court had Ankita Adhikary to give up her job as teacher and return the salary she has drawn for the past two years. Paresh Adhikary was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged manipulation in the merit list.