A division bench of Calcutta High Court on Friday set up a three-member expert committee to find out whether questions in the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) in 2017 and 2022 had errors.

“The committee will find out whether some questions set in different subjects of TET 2017 and 2022 had errors or not. The committee will have to submit its report before this court in two weeks,” the division bench of Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Uday Kumar said in its brief order.

The court said the school education department would constitute the committee that will comprise a representative of the state primary education board, Calcutta University and Visva-Bharati University.

TET is held to shortlist candidates to be appointed as assistant teachers in government-aided primary schools.

The division bench was hearing an appeal moved by the state against back-to-back orders passed by Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the same court in April.

Mantha on April 25 directed the Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor to set up a committee to find out whether 21 questions in the 2017 TET had any errors.

A day later, he sought the assistance of the Jadavpur University VC to find out whether 24 questions in the 2022 TET had any errors.

The division bench headed by Justice Tandon, which heard the appeal on June 26, had reserved its verdict.

On Friday, the bench’s order gave the responsibility of setting up the committee to the school education department, instead of to the VCs of Visva-Bharati and JU.

“We are happy that a representative of the board has been included in the committee. I believe the committee will soon finalise its report as ordered by the court and the recruitment process based on the TET 2017 and the subsequent screening process will be allowed,” Gautam Paul, president of the state primary education board told Metro.

The state had challenged the orders of the single bench on the ground that Justice Mantha sought to engage experts of an academic institution controlled by the Union government, said an official of the state primary education board. Visva-Bharati is a central university.

Seeking the assistance of JU was also challenged.

“It was a must that a representative of the board was included in the committee because this could ensure a fair scrutiny,” said a board official.

An official of the department said they would announce the composition of the committee once they get a copy of the order.

“The recruitment process has been held up in schools following the litigation against TET. Schools are struggling to hold classes because of a lack of adequate teachers. Now that the court has constituted a committee and has set a timeline, we hope the stalemate over the recruitment will end,” the official said.