The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday asked the CBI to conduct an investigation into fraudulent withdrawal of several crore rupees from the general provident fund (GPF) accounts of teachers and other employees of intermediate colleges in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh.
A division bench comprising Justice Arun Tandon and Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, while passing the order, asked the state government and the district administration to hand over all relevant records to the CBI and directed the probe agency to complete its investigation and submit a report within three months.
The order was passed on a public interest litigation filed by Bhim Singh, a resident of Ballia, who had drawn the court’s attention towards the irregularities.
The petitioner had also alleged that the money which was fraudulently withdrawn from the treasury, was diverted towards payment of salary and other emoluments to more than 100 “illegally” appointed teachers of the district.
The petitioner had further contended that the state vigilance department, which was investigating the scam, had submitted a charge sheet against a number of officials then posted in Ballia, but no action had been taken by the government against them.