Shillong– The Meghalaya High Court today extended the deadline for the defence counsel to submit crucial documentation in connection with the long-running teacher recruitment scandal from 2008-09. The case, which continues to cast a shadow over the state’s education sector, involves a sitting Cabinet Minister and former education officials.
Chief Justice IP Mukerji presided over the ongoing hearing, granting the request for additional time to file specific charges against the accused in the case currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). This development comes as the court navigates multiple petitions stemming from the alleged irregularities.
At the heart of the matter are accusations of impropriety in the selection and appointment of Assistant Teachers for Lower Primary Schools between 2008 and 2009. Court documents allege a deliberate “subverting the selection process by interpolating, forging or fabricating the examination result sheets to help specific candidates.”
Among the prominent figures implicated is current Meghalaya Cabinet Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, whose legal representation, Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid, has already concluded his arguments before the bench. The second accused, Jeffrey D. Sangma, who reportedly served as Director in the Department of School Education during the relevant period, is represented by Senior Advocate Paul, who commenced his arguments today.
“Today, learned counsel seeks leave of this Court to file a compilation containing the specific charges which have been levelled against his client out of the countless charges which have been included in the charge framed,” the court order stated. This request was granted, with the compilation to be filed by June 4, 2025.
The High Court is currently deliberating on five distinct criminal petitions related to the scandal. This includes one filed by the CBI challenging a previous order from a criminal court, alongside four separate petitions from the accused seeking to quash the ongoing proceedings under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)).
The matter has been adjourned until June 13, 2025. Chief Justice Mukerji further directed that “all subsisting interim orders shall continue till disposal of these applications or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”
Read More: Assam Embarks on Ambitious Police Modernization Drive