SHILLONG, March 1: Former Union Cabinet Minister and senior Supreme Court lawyer, Salman Khurshid on Monday represented former Education Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh who has been charge-sheeted in the infamous education scam for which the trial is going on in a district judge court in the city.
During the hearing, Lyngdoh’s legal team was said to have taken up the issue of another High Court order passed in the favour of the teachers, allowing them to make a representation to the Chief Secretary.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought time to examine the order, it was learnt.
Khurshid told journalists that the High-Powered Committee in its reports maintained that 187 teachers re-engaged while the plea of 66 others is being considered.
The High Court of Meghalaya had in 2020 accepted the teachers’ plea and allowed them to file a representation before the High-Level Scrutiny Committee to declare themselves as untainted.
The court’s Division Bench had on November 2, 2017, directed the CBI to investigate the manipulation of score sheets of candidates at 10 examination centres.
“We have to see what happens in matters that have gone to Supreme Court,” Khurshid said.
P. Yobin, who assisted Khurshid in the case, said the Division Bench had directed the High-level Scrutiny Committee to scrutinise the 10 centres.
He said the committee had found 260 teachers tainted and the All Meghalaya Primary Teachers’ Association later approached the high court, which directed that the teachers from five centres be allowed to make a representation to the High-Level Security Committee.
The panel cleared 187 teachers.
“It means they will get back their jobs while the remaining 66 are awaiting instructions,” Yobin said.
The 260 teachers were terminated after the CBI probe into the education scam allegedly involving Lyngdoh and high-ranking officials of the Education department.
The central probe agency last year charge-sheeted the former Education minister, and retired government officials JD Sangma and AI Lyngdoh for manipulating score sheets of the candidates, who had appeared for the tests.
