Supreme Court allows Bengal to retain 'untainted' teachers till fresh selection
Supreme Court allows Bengal to retain 'untainted' teachers till fresh selection
M.U.H
18/04/202530
In a partial relief to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the 'untainted' assistant teachers for classes 9-12, whose appointments were cancelled earlier this month due to irregularities in recruitment, could continue their jobs till the fresh selection process is completed. The court ordered the West Bengal government to publish an advertisement for fresh recruitment by May 31 or else it would take action against the dispensation.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, hearing a petition objecting to the new selection process of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), asked the state government to take corrective measures by December 31.
"Subject to the following conditions that the ad for fresh recruitment will be out by May 31, the exam, including the entire process, shall be done by December 31," the bench said.
However, the Supreme Court said it would not apply to Group C and D employees, as the number of established tainted candidates was substantially high.
The bench said if the West Bengal government did not publish the ad by or before May 31, it would pass appropriate orders, including imposition of costs.
On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld a Calcutta High Court's decision to terminate the appointments of as many as 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff by the WBSSC in 2016 in connection with the school jobs-for-cash scam.
The infamous school jobs-for-cash scam revolves around alleged illegal recruitments in primary and secondary schools across West Bengal during the 2016 hiring process.
The High Court, citing serious irregularities such as OMR sheet tampering and rank manipulation, annulled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools.
On May 7 last year, the Supreme Court put a hold on the High Court's order concerning these appointments by the state's School Service Commission (SSC) but allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to proceed with its probe into the matter.
The case originated from allegations of irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal SSC, in which 23 lakh candidates competed for 24,640 posts, yet 25,753 appointment letters were issued.
