Face of Bengal teachers' job scam protest indicted for fraud; loses post, told to return salary

Babita Sarkar, whose challenge led to the sacking of a minister's daughter, found to have misled recruitment authority to get more marks

Sougata Mukhopadhyay, TT,  Calcutta, 16.05.23: More twist to the tale of one of the first court-directed appointment cancellations in the Bengal teachers' recruitment scam: the woman whose petition led to the sacking of a minister's daughter for having got a job illegally is now in the dock for fraud.

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed that the appointment, initially snatched away from Ankita Adhikary, daughter of former Bengal junior school education minister Paresh Adhikary, should now be taken away from her challenger Babita Sarkar and handed over to another job aspirant, Anamika Biswas Roy.

Reason: Babita, the face of the job scam protest, was herself found to have misled the state School Service Commission (SSC) into providing her higher marks in the final merit list than she actually deserved.

In May last year, the Bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had terminated Ankita's appointment as an assistant teacher at the Indira Girls’ High school in Mekhligunj, Cooch Behar, on grounds that she was fraudulently awarded the topper rank in the SSC merit list, in possible exercise of her father’s political clout. The order was passed during the course of a challenge petition moved by Babita, who was the first in the waiting list of candidates. The court had not only cancelled Ankita’s appointment but had also directed her to submit the entire salary she had earned during her tenure as a teacher.

The court then transferred that amount, Rs 15,92,843, to Babita besides directing the state secondary education board to issue fresh appointment to her in Ankita’s place. Babita, a resident of Siliguri, joined the school as a teacher of Political Science in June, last year.

Ironically, it was the same judge who quashed Babita’s appointment on Tuesday and directed the commission to withdraw her appointment recommendation besides directing the board to issue a fresh appointment letter to Anamika B Roy within three weeks after she completes her mandatory counseling process with the Commission.

The court further directed Babita to return the entire amount she had received from Ankita last year. Taking a lenient view on the accused, Judge Gangopadhyay, however, spared Babita from making her return the salary she has so far earned in her job.

Babita, who burst to tears after the judge passed the order, claimed she was oblivious of her goof-up and prayed for additional time to return the money. The court allowed her to make the repayment in two phases: Rs 11 lakh within the next three days and the remaining amount by June 6. The amount would then be passed on to Anamika, the latest recruit.

“I could have taken a sterner step for the way you have misled this court. You should take heart from the court’s decision to not take back your salary. Take part in the recruitment process afresh if you want to return as a teacher. The fault lies with you and you are the one who should be punished,” Gangopadhyay told the accused in court.

Babita’s appointment was challenged in court by Anamika, also a resident of Siliguri, who prayed that the former job contender mentioned in her application form that she secured 440/800 at her undergraduate level which is 55 per cent in aggregate. Yet in the aggregate column Babita stated she had got 60 per cent. Anamika argued that as per SSC norms, a candidate should get 8 marks in selection weightage if her UG aggregate is 60 per cent or more and 6 marks if the percentage is between 45-60. Hence, according to the petitioner, the accused should actually have secured 31, instead of 33, for her educational qualifications and 75, instead of 77, in her overall score in the merit panel.

Anamika claimed that she was ranked 21 in the initial merit list which was published by the SSC where Babita was ranked 20. Later, when Ankita’s name was irregularly included in that list as topper, she slid to 22nd position and Babita to 21st.

Finding merit in her argument, the court awarded the job to Anamika while taking it away from her predecessor who hit the headlines a year ago as the face of the recruitment scam protest in Bengal.

“I pray that Babita too gets a job after participating in the recruitment process in a fair manner. I have no personal enmity with her. Anyone else in her place would have lost this job since a difference of two marks makes a huge difference on the merit list,” Anamika said.

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