 "Calcutta HC voids 2016 West Bengal SSC recruitment, nullifies 24,000 jobs")
The Calcutta High Court on Monday declared as null and void the selection process for the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools. With this order, the hiring of approximately 24,000 teaching and non-teaching staff has been nullified.
A division bench, comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi, also instructed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct further investigations into the appointment process and present a report within three months.
The court has also mandated that individuals involved in the invalidated appointments have to return their salaries within four weeks.
It also ordered new recruitment procedures to commence within 15 days. The CBI’s investigation will continue during this period.
However, an exception was made for a cancer patient, Soma Das. She will not lose her job.
As per the CBI’s submission to the court, a total 21,000 candidates were recruited illegally in all categories of WBSSC and more than 9,000 OMR sheets were tampered with in the process.
Earlier in February, the CBI had arrested six people, including former education minister Partha Chatterjee, in connection with its investigation into the alleged irregularities.
Those arrested were allegedly working as agents, collecting money from candidates, and facilitating their employment in various schools across the state, the federal agency had said.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court had requested the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to establish a division bench dedicated to hearing all petitions and appeals related to the recruitment process conducted through SLST-2016, with the aim of expediting resolution.
The Supreme Court, in its directive, had provided a safeguard to the appointments that had been nullified by the high court, extending protection for six months to allow the division bench to resolve the disputes. Additionally, the Supreme Court instructed the CBI to conduct its investigation within a defined timeframe and submit its report to the court.
Mamata Banerjee to challenge HC verdict
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reacted to the development and said that the state government will challenge the High Court's verdict.
"Snatching jobs of 26,000 people. No matter what happens, we will continue the fight. Those who lost their jobs should not be depressed," Banerjee remarked. She said, "We stand beside you and we will continue to do so. This was the order of someone who has now joined the BJP."
"Supreme Court had set this aside and called for a new division bench. But who will constitute the new division bench? Justice is crying," she added.
Ex-HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay calls for Mamata's resignation
Terming the Calcutta High Court order to cancel all appointments made through the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools as an "appropriate judgment", former judge of the court Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Monday demanded "immediate resignation" of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Gangopadhyay, whose single bench had previously ordered CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process, asserted that "the entire group of fraudsters in the state administration" responsible for perpetrating the scam "should be hanged".
Gangopadhyay also gave a clarion call to "both Hindus and Muslims to boycott Banerjee" since "candidates belonging to both communities were affected" by the scam.
Earlier, Gangopadhyay had also ordered the termination of a number of jobs of teaching and non-teaching staffers after finding irregularities.
(with inputs from PTI)
(with inputs from PTI)