In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has overturned an interim order from the Calcutta High Court that directed the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) to initiate a new selection process for 32,000 teacher positions by the end of August 2023. The decision was handed down by Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan, who clarified that their ruling did not reflect on the case’s merits but was based on the fact that the initial order was passed without hearing the teachers or their representatives.
The apex court expressed its agreement with the argument that the High Court single judge’s decision, which was later upheld by a division bench, was unjustified due to the lack of a hearing for the teachers involved. Consequently, the Supreme Court set aside the division bench’s order and instructed the High Court to expedite the hearing of the case related to the school jobs for cash scam.
The Supreme Court was reviewing an appeal against a Calcutta High Court order from May 19, which had put a hold on a single judge’s order, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who had nullified the appointment of 32,000 teachers in West Bengal. The division bench, consisting of Justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya, had upheld the stay but insisted that the Board conduct a new selection process by the end of August 2023, as directed by Justice Gangopadhyay.
During the appeal, the counsel for the dismissed teachers argued before the Supreme Court that their clients were neither heard nor granted any interim protection.
Justice Gangopadhyay’s order from May 12 had annulled the teachers’ appointments, citing “stinking rats” in the recruitment scam known as the school jobs for cash scam. The judge was hearing cases related to illicit recruitment in West Bengal schools. It was brought to his attention that during the 2016 recruitment process, thousands of “untrained” candidates were appointed despite their lower scores in the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) and other criteria.
The single judge inferred that these underqualified candidates were given extra or maximum marks in aptitude tests, which appeared to be conducted only on paper. The judge also found that no selection committee was formed to select eligible candidates. Instead, an external agency, a third party not affiliated with the Education Board, carried out the selection process. This was a clear violation of the Recruitment Rules, the single judge observed, leading to the cancellation of all 32,000 candidates’ appointments, who were found to be untrained at the time of the 2016 recruitment process.