The West Bengal Government challenged the Calcutta High Court’s decision to cancel the appointments of 24,000 teaching and non-teaching staff members.
NEW DELHI: Today (24th April): The West Bengal Government moved to the Supreme Court after the Calcutta High Court recently invalidated approximately 24,000 appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016.
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“The High Court did not adequately consider the consequences of nullifying the entire selection process, resulting in the immediate termination of 23,123 teaching and non-teaching staff members without affording the State petitioner adequate time to address this urgent situation, thereby halting the education system,” the plea stated.
Background:
The scandal, known as the School Jobs for Cash Scam, involves allegations of illicit recruitments in primary and secondary schools throughout West Bengal during the 2016 recruitment process. More than 23 lakh candidates appeared for the examinations conducted for 24,000 job vacancies. It was claimed before the High Court that many candidates were offered jobs based on incorrect evaluation of their OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) sheets.
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Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi of the Calcutta High Court observed that there was no clarity regarding the proper evaluation of the 23 lakh answer sheets. Consequently, they ordered a re-evaluation of all the recruitment entrance exam sheets. The court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue its investigation into the recruitment scam.
The State, in its SLP filed before the Supreme Court, argues that the High Court’s cancellation of the appointments was based on oral submissions rather than concrete evidence in the form of affidavits. It asserts that the court’s decision was made without due consideration for the significant vacuum it would create in the schools, effectively bringing the education system to a standstill. The government also questions the feasibility of conducting a fresh selection process within a fortnight of the Lok Sabha election results.
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The cancellation of the appointments has caused widespread disruption in the education sector, and the state government emphasizes the detrimental consequences of terminating the services of 23,123 teaching and non-teaching staff without providing sufficient time to address the resulting crisis. Former education minister Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) party MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha, and suspended TMC leaders Santanu Kundu and Kuntal Ghosh have been implicated in the scam and are currently in custody.
