Did Ex-Bengal Minister Paresh Chandra Adhikari and Daughter Ankita Secure Bail in SSC Recruitment Scandal?

Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Paresh Chandra Adhikari and his daughter Ankita received bail in a corruption case.
- The court granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 7,000.
- Other individuals linked to the case have also been granted bail.
- The CBI has submitted multiple charge sheets in the ongoing investigation.
- The issue raises serious concerns about the integrity of teacher recruitment in West Bengal.
Kolkata, Sep 3 (NationPress) Paresh Chandra Adhikari, the former minister of West Bengal, along with his daughter Ankita Adhikari, has received bail in connection with the School Service Commission (SSC) teacher recruitment scandal. On Wednesday, both individuals presented themselves before the Special CBI court situated in Kolkata's Alipore, facing allegations of corruption linked to the SSC hiring procedures.
During this session, they also submitted a request for bail. Ultimately, the court approved their conditional bail, which was set against a personal bond amounting to Rs 7,000.
Additionally, the court granted bail to Debashree Sinha, spouse of the former convener of the School Service Commission Advisory Committee, Shantiprasad Sinha.
Recently, the CBI presented its final charge-sheet concerning the SSC recruitment for classes 9th-10th and 11th-12th.
Just last Friday, the final charge-sheet was submitted to the Alipore court regarding the Group-C recruitment matter. Previously, the CBI had filed two additional charge sheets in this case, making a total of four submissions.
In total, 75 individuals were summoned to the court across all related cases. In light of these circumstances, Paresh and Ankita chose to surrender to the court this time. Notably, Ankita is listed as number 104 among the 'tainted and ineligible' candidates published by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recently.
It should be noted that Ankita Adhikari had secured a teaching position in political science for classes 11th and 12th via the WBSSC.
However, another candidate, Babita Sarkar, lodged a complaint in the Calcutta High Court, claiming that Ankita obtained her position unlawfully. In May 2022, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta High Court annulled Ankita's appointment.
The High Court mandated that she return her salary, consequently allowing Babita to take over the position and earn approximately Rs 15 lakh.
Later, it was discovered that there had been an error in the assessment of Babita's marks. Following another lawsuit filed by a candidate named Anamika Roy, Babita also lost her job, ultimately leading to Anamika receiving the same position.
However, Anamika too lost her job after the Supreme Court invalidated around 26,000 teaching and non-teaching positions.