Bhubaneswar, July 14 (IANS) In a significant development, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police on Tuesday arrested Manoj Kumar Padhy, former Director of Teacher Education (TE) and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), in connection with the massive irregularities in the publication of new textbooks for class I to VIII.

It is worth noting that, based on a written complaint lodged by Madhusmita Sahoo, the Director of TE & SCERT, the Crime Branch registered Case No. 08/2026 in this regard and launched a probe into the criminal conspiracy relating to preparation, approval, processing and publication of school textbooks for classes I to VIII.

The case has been registered under Sections 316(5), 201, 3(5) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. According to the Crime Branch, Padhy, an OAS (SS) officer, during his tenure as the Director of TE and SCERT was entrusted with the overall supervision, coordination, monitoring and approval of the textbook development process under the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.

“He dishonestly failed to discharge the official duties entrusted to him and knowingly approved and forwarded print-ready manuscripts for publication without ensuring verification of their factual, scientific, geographical, translation and pictorial contents amounting to criminal negligence,” informed the Crime Branch.

The agency claimed that these alleged acts of omission led to the publication and distribution of textbooks containing numerous errors, resulting in an estimated wrongful loss of around Rs 175 crore to the state exchequer and causing significant injury to public interest.

Meanwhile, Padhy was subjected to marathon interrogation by multiple teams of the Crime Branch on Tuesday before his arrest.

The Crime Branch said in a statement that as prima facie evidence has been established against Manoj Kumar Padhy (57), he was formally arrested on Tuesday under Sections 316(5), 201, 61(2) and 3(5) of the BNS, 2023.

Following his arrest on Tuesday, Padhy was scheduled to be produced before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC-III) in Cuttack later in the day.

Notably, taking the errors found in the school textbooks for Classes I to VIII seriously, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, on July 11, directed that a criminal investigation be conducted into the entire process of preparation, approval, and publication of the textbooks.

He also directed the Director of SCERT to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) with the Superintendent of Police (SP), Crime Branch, to facilitate an independent investigation into the matter.

Earlier, the Chief Minister had constituted a committee, chaired by the Development Commissioner, to ascertain the reasons for the errors in the school textbooks.

Based on the committee’s findings, Padhy and three Assistant Directors were placed under suspension, while disciplinary proceedings were ordered against six other Assistant Directors.

–IANS

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