Petition in Calcutta high court seeks joint probe by CBI, ED in alleged TET scam

Several TET 2014 candidates approached Calcutta high court in 2019, alleging discrepancy in the recruitment process. The court cancelled the entire selection process after hearing the matter.

KOLKATA: A petition was filed in the Calcutta high court on Wednesday seeking a joint probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the alleged irregularities in the 2014 Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in West Bengal.

TET Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 was conducted on October 11, 2015, with over 2.3 million candidates. The matter is likely to be heard by the Calcutta high court this week.

“Firstly, we have prayed for a CBI probe into the allegations of irregularities. Second, we have prayed for a transparent merit list so that eligible candidates may be recruited. Thirdly, as there is money involved and allegations have surfaced that non-eligible candidate have paid lakhs of rupees to get the jobs, we have prayed for a probe by the ED,” Tarunjyoti Tewari, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth leader and advocate, told reporters in Kolkata.

TET 2014 was conducted on October 11, 2015, with over 2.3 million candidates. Several TET 2014 candidates approached the Calcutta high court in 2019, alleging discrepancy in the recruitment process. The court cancelled the entire selection process after hearing the matter.

While state education minister Bratya Basu refused to comment saying that he was not the education minister back then, the then education minister Partha Chatterjee refused to take calls and didn’t respond to messages either.

This comes just four days after Mahua Moitra, Trinamool Congress member of Parilament (MP), warned of alleged irregularities in TET. In her social media post, Moitra warned that a racket was allegedly operating in which names of candidates were being illegally empanelled in TET after increasing marks in ‘back-date’.

“Honourable chief minister has repeatedly said that using the party as shield against extortion will not be allowed. If anyone cheats people in the name of assuring jobs, getting people empanelled in TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) or for facilitating government work, inform police or my office in writing without any fear,” Moitra added.

The matter is likely to be heard this week.