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In a major setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led government, the Calcutta High Court has cancelled the 2016 recruitment process for government-sponsored and aided schools. The court’s decision affects as many as 25,753 appointees who are now set to lose their jobs and will be required to return their salaries with a 12% interest.
A division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi directed that school teachers recruited illegally, after submitting blank OMR sheets, must return their salaries within four weeks. District magistrates have been assigned the task of collecting the money from these teachers.
However, the court made an exception for Soma Das, one of the appointees undergoing cancer treatment, allowing her to retain her job on humanitarian grounds.
The bench, formed on a Supreme Court directive, has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to further investigate the appointment process and submit a report within three months. Additionally, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has been instructed to initiate a fresh appointment process.
Reacting to the court’s decision, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused BJP leaders of influencing the judiciary and its judgments. In response, BJP Bengal targeted the Trinamool government, suggesting that both Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee are set to face defeat.
“The High Court has cancelled about 24,000 SSC recruitments from 2016, CBI can take anyone into custody. A smile has appeared on the faces of the worthy. This time, the nephew and his aunt will be defeated. #TMCExposed,” BJP Bengal stated.
The recruitment process in question involved over 23 lakh candidates who appeared for the State Level Selection Test-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. However, 25,753 appointment letters were issued, covering posts for teachers of classes 9 to 12 and group-C and D staffers, according to lawyers representing some of the petitioners.
This isn’t the first time the Calcutta High Court has intervened in teacher recruitment. Last year, the court dismissed panels set up by the WBSCC in 2016 and cancelled the appointment of 36,000 untrained primary teachers, later revised to 32,000.
Abhijit Ganguly, the judge who initially ordered a CBI probe in the case, resigned after conflicts with the ruling Trinamool and is now a BJP candidate in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Following the initial judgment, another single-judge bench had temporarily halted the decision.
Last November, the Supreme Court had directed the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to form a division bench to hear petitions and appeals related to the recruitment case, providing six-month protection to those whose appointments were cancelled.
