Supreme Court Overturns Calcutta High Court's Decision, Rejects Fresh Selection for 32,000 Teacher Posts in School Jobs Scam
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has overturned the interim order of the Calcutta High Court, which directed the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) to conduct a new selection process for 32,000 teacher positions by August 2023. Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan clarified that their decision was not based on the merits of the case, but rather on the fact that the High Court single judge had issued the initial order without hearing the teachers or their representatives.
The Supreme Court concluded that the division bench of the High Court's decision to uphold the single judge's direction for a fresh selection process was unjustified and therefore set it aside. Additionally, the top court instructed the High Court to expedite the hearing of the case related to the school jobs for cash scam.
This development stems from an appeal against a May 19 order of the Calcutta High Court, which stayed the single judge's decision to annul the appointment of 32,000 teachers in West Bengal. The division bench had stayed the order but maintained that the Board should conduct a new selection process before the end of August 2023, as directed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
During the Supreme Court proceedings, the counsel representing the terminated teachers emphasized that they were not given a chance to present their arguments or provided any interim protection. Justice Gangopadhyay had previously canceled the teachers' appointments on May 12, citing a "school jobs for cash scam" and highlighting irregularities in the recruitment process.
The single judge found that numerous "untrained" candidates were appointed in 2016, despite scoring poorly in the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) and other assessments. It was inferred that these candidates were awarded extra or maximum marks in aptitude tests, which were only conducted on paper. Moreover, the judge discovered that the selection of eligible candidates was carried out by an external agency not affiliated with the Education Board, in violation of the Recruitment Rules.
Consequently, Justice Gangopadhyay revoked the appointments of all 32,000 candidates who were found to be untrained at the time of their recruitment in 2016.
TAGS: Supreme Court Calcutta High Court interim order fresh selection teacher posts West Bengal Board of Primary Education selection exercise justices hearing division bench justified set aside expeditiously appeal counsel terminated teachers appointments recruitment scam school jobs for cash scam untrained candidates Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) aptitude tests selection committee outside agency Recruitment Rules revoked.
