‘TET-2014 pass certificate data handed over to WBBPE in 2023’

Soumyadip Mullick, MP, 26 July 2024, Kolkata: Refuting the claims of West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Thursday, submitted in Calcutta High Court that a challan recovered during a probe revealed that all pass certificate data of more than one lakh candidates in 2014 Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) were handed over to the Board on April 2023. 

The Bench of Justice Amrita Sinha was hearing a matter relating to a petition of 2023 wherein all the petitioners had passed the TET 2014. They were appointed as primary teachers and were engaged in their duties. 

The Board had issued a notification regarding the TET qualified candidates with training qualification, as per NCTE notification, requesting to submit their particulars for obtaining TET pass certificates. 

The petitioners, on entering their particulars, were surprised to see that they are not qualified due to their percentage in HS/equivalent examination. They had moved the court after the Board rejected their applications. In the last hearing, the Board had informed the court that all TET certificate related documents were with the CBI and not in their possession. 

Justice Sinha had then sought information from the central probe agency. On Thursday, the CBI counsel told the court that during the probe, a challan was recovered from the office of the processing company M/s. S Basu Roy and Co. which revealed that they handed over TET pass certificates documents of 125703 candidates to the Board on April 1, 2023. 

The challan was also backed by corroborating statements by one of the peons of the company. The counsel further elaborated that the Board asked the company to set up a portal to maintain the data of these 2014 TET candidates and make it accessible to the candidates itself. 

The erstwhile partner of the company, Goutam Mukherjee had accepted the proposal and had carried forward that process until November 2022 when he was dead. Later, in 2023, when correspondence was made with the serving partner of the company, Kaushik Majhi, who is now in a correctional home, he expressed inability to carry forward the portal, the CBI advocate told the court. 

Justice Sinha directed the following in her order: “Learned advocate appearing on behalf of the Central Bureau of Investigation produces a challan from the Confidential Processor, Kolkata to the President, West Bengal Board of Primary Education dated 1st April, 2023 in support of the submission that the Pass Certificate Data of the West Bengal TET-2014 in respect of 1,25,703 candidates were handed over to the Board. Learned advocate appearing on behalf of the Board seek time to take instructions.” 

The matter is next listed for July 29. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/tet-2014-pass-certificate-data-handed-over-to-wbbpe-in-2023-573244