India, Oct. 30 -- Cracking down on irregularities in teacher recruitment across Maharashtra, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to constitute high-level committees in every division to investigate private educational institutions that have allegedly bypassed the state's official Pavitra Portal while hiring teachers.

The directive comes amid growing evidence of a "systemic and widespread" pattern of schools recruiting teachers privately under the false claim that the Pavitra Portal was non-functional, a practice the court said has "serious ramifications for public accountability", since salaries of such teachers are paid from public funds.

Widening scam

Earlier this year, the state government announced the ...