Was I right in ordering CBI probes, Calcutta HC judge wonders in court

KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who ordered CBI probes in at least eight cases relating to irregular appointments in state-run schools, wondered in the court on Tuesday whether he had done the right thing in assigning the cases to the central investigating agency. He could not see any light at the end of the tunnel, he said.
"I was thinking whether it was right to order a CBI investigation or should I have directed a probe under the Special Investigation Team (SIT)? The CBI does not have adequate manpower," Justice Gangopadhyay observed while interacting with senior counsel Kalyan Bandyopadhyay in a case that was not related to school appointments.
Justice Gangopadhyay said he felt "tired" over how the CBI could not dig up "material facts" for eight months since he first ordered a CBI probe in a school appointment case last November. "I am very tired. I ordered a CBI probe last November. Nothing has come up yet," the judge observed on Tuesday. The CBI is scheduled to submit a report on a primary teacher recruitment case on Wednesday.
"I don't know what to do next. Who should I hand over the investigation if a similar matter comes to me in future? What will happen to unemp-loyed youth? I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel," Justice Gangopadhyay observed.
‘CBI probe order creates media splash’
Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who ordered CBI probes in at least eight cases relating to irregular appointments in state-run schools, wondered in the court on Tuesday whether he had done the right thing in assigning the cases to the central investigating agency.
Senior counsel Kalyan Bandyopadhyay pointed out that CBI could not gather evidence in the 2016 Tapasi Malik rape and murder case after her charred body was recovered from a proposed car factory site in Singur. “What happened to the CBI investigation into Saradha case or Narada case? An order for a CBI inquiry creates a splash in the media for three to four days and then ends in nothing,” the senior counsel submitted.
The judge, while reflec- ting on his earlier CBI probe orders in school appointment cases, observed: “I don’t know whether my orders for CBI probes into the irregular appointments carried any message to the CM. The state education system is passing through bad times. Jobs for the unemployed is the main issue. I made some comments on minister Partha Chatterjee. I have nothing personal against him. ”