School jobs case: Calcutta High Court seeks report from CBI Director

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday sought a report from the Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Praveen Sood, on the progress of investigation into the alleged primary teachers' recruitment scam in the state-run schools in West Bengal.

A single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay directed Sood to submit the report to his bench by October 4. He also directed the CBI Director to be present virtually during the hearing on that day.

Sood has been advised to submit the report after consulting the investigation officers of the agency in this case.

Meanwhile, the CBI officials again faced the ire of Justice Gangopadhyay on Wednesday for their alleged lackadaisical approach in the investigation process.

“The CBI was directed to investigate the matter in September last year. Almost a year has passed but its officials have not been able to make any substantial progress in the investigation. Are you here to fool the people? You have excluded several important questions during interrogation,” Justice Gangopadhyay said.

On Tuesday, Justice Gangopadhyay had cautioned the CBI of referring the matter to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), besides accusing some of the agency officers of “shielding” the culprits.

“Not all in the CBI, but some within the agency are trying to shield the culprits,” Justice Gangopadhyay had noted.