Meghalaya Education Scam: High Court directs CBI to take over case
Shillong, Nov 02, 2017: In a landmark judgment, the Division Bench of the Meghalaya High Court on Thursday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the criminal case filed against a "Government official and a politician" into the irregularities on the recruitment of the assistant teachers in the Government Lower Primary Schools in 2009-2010.
The Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Dinesh Maheswari and Justice Ved Prakash Vaish passed this judgment after nearly eight years since the State Government had conducted the recruitment process of the assistant teachers.
"The CBI shall carry out similar nature inquiry, as carried out earlier and shall similarly segregate the tainted and untainted candidates and submit its report to the Chief Secretary within six months from today. Laitumkhrah P.S. Case No. 62 (7) stands withdrawn from the State Police and stands transferred to the CBI for appropriate investigation," the Court directed in its judgment.
At the same time, the Court said that the State Government must hand over the Case Diary to the CBI counsel.
The HC also directed the Chief Secretary get such representation/s submitted by candidates found tainted/unblemished to be examined by a three member Committee, comprising of himself; and one member from the State Civil Services having unblemished service record and of impeccable
integrity; and one independent member from any Central or State Educational Institution or University.
The said Committee shall take decision on such representation/s within 60 days of making; and if the Committee would accept the representation and treat the candidate as untainted, he/she shall be entitled to the right of participation in the fresh selection process at par with other untainted candidates.
The Court further made clear that if the Committee would confirm the tainted character of
any such candidate, he/she shall stand permanently debarred from seeking any Government employment and shall also be liable for penalty quantified in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- (fifty thousand) that shall be deposited in the State Disaster Management Fund.
Meanwhile, the Court also directed that "untainted and unblemished" candidates, as per reports of CBI and High Level Scrutiny Committee (HLSC,) who qualified in the examination and are still in service "may be allowed to continue as stop-gap arrangement" until fresh selection takes place.
However, none of the candidates who has been "found tainted and blemished, whether in the report of CBI or in the report of HLSC" and recommended by the public representative shall be taken or retained in service even in stop-gap arrangement.
Moreover, all the untainted and unblemished candidates, whether in service or not, shall be allowed to participate in the fresh selection process and none of them "shall be treated as age-barred."
It may be recalled that in 2008, the Education department of the State had floated the advertisement for teachers' job in primary schools across the State.
A year after the examination was held and the results declared, some of the candidates applied for RTI and found that their score sheets were erased with erasable ink. The tampering occurred in five centres – Shillong Sadar, Jowai, Amlarem, Tura and Dadenggre.
One of the aggrieved candidates filed an FIR at the Laitumkhrah police station after not qualifying the examination and finding that the score sheet was erased.
The candidate alleged in the FIR that it was the then "Director of Elementary and Mass Education and the politician involved" who manipulated with the exam scores.
The then Director of Elementary and Mass Education was JD Sangma. The matter went to Court and a CBI inquiry was initiated based on the Court's direction. The CBI indicted Sangma and the then Education Minister, Ampareen Lyngdoh (currently labour Minister) being involved in tempering the result sheets.
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