Calcutta HC directs jailed Trinamool MLA to refund salary he drew as law college principal

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed Trinamool Congress legislator and former Chairman of West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), Manik Bhattacharya, to return the entire salary he once drew as the principal of a reputed law college in Kolkata.

A single judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay passed this order after hearing a petition accusing Bhattacharya of assuming the chair of the principal of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College by violating the norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Justice Gangopadhyay accepted the arguments of the petitioners’ counsel and directed that Bhattacharya will have to refund the entire salary he drew as the principal of the said law college.

Bhattacharya is currently serving judicial custody at a prison in Kolkata for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore cash for school jobs case in West Bengal.

Justice Gangopadhyay’s bench also directed the removal of the current principal of the same law college, Sunanda Goenka, along with a teacher there named Achin Kundu, from their respective chairs on the same grounds.

He also ordered that the office of the principal should be kept under lock and key till further orders.

Both Goenka and Kundu have been directed by the bench not to enter the college premises till further orders.

The bench has also put a stay on the election for the working committee of the law college, which was supposed to be conducted on Friday.

Justice Gangopadhyay then selected a court-appointed special officer to monitor the entire process.