Bengal Teacher Recruitment: Calcutta HC Allows Mamata Govt, SSC To Challenge Debarment Of 'Tainted' Candidates

Calcutta HC allows WB govt, WBSSC to appeal order debarring tainted 2016 candidates from fresh teacher recruitment.

File Photo of Calcutta High Court

Source : Calcutta High Court

Kolkata, Jul 8 (PTI) A division bench of the Calcutta High Court Tuesday granted permission to the West Bengal government and the WBSSC to challenge a single bench order regarding the commencement of the selection process for school teachers.

The single bench on Monday directed the West Bengal School Service Commission to debar the identified tainted candidates of the 2016 selection process from participating in this year’s fresh recruitment procedure, which the WBSSC has recently notified following directions of the Supreme Court.

A division bench presided by Justice Soumen Sen allowed the state government and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to file their appeal.

Lawyers for the state and the SSC moved the division bench and prayed for permission of the court to file the appeal and sought an early hearing.

A single bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya had on Monday directed the state government and the SSC to proceed with the selection process of teaching staff for West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools, which started vide a recruitment notification of May 30.

The court directed that in the said selection process, identified tainted candidates will not be permitted to participate.

Justice Bhattacharya directed that if any tainted candidate has applied in order to offer his or her candidature under the said recruitment notification, the same will stand cancelled.

He also directed that the time schedule fixed by the Supreme Court in its order of April 17 be strictly adhered to by the authorities to bring the selection process to a logical conclusion.

The Supreme Court had on April 17 annulled the appointment of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run and -aided institutions after finding that the selection process was tainted.

After the order was dictated by the single bench of Justice Bhattacharya, the lawyer representing the SSC had prayed for a stay on the order with regard to debarring tainted candidates from participating in the selection process based on the May 30 notification.

Justice Bhattacharya refused the prayer after due consideration.

Some petitioners had challenged before the single bench the appointment process initiated through the May 30 notification for the recruitment by SSC to the posts of assistant teachers for upper primary level and from classes 9 to 12. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)