318 orders passed in the SSC scam : Recovery of all remuneration received by those who were illegally appointed to be done by respective DI and DM

DMs are asked to take expeditious steps to realize the such amount from such persons, as arrears of land revenue and shall ensure that recovery is made within a period of six weeks of the date of initiation of proceeding for recovery.

KalimNews and Agencies, 23 April 2024 : The division bench of Calcutta High Court observed irregularities and considered the appointment of teachers by the School Service Commission in 2016 as illegal.

The court on Monday stated, "we have passed our judgement and order where we have found the appointments to be in violation of the constitutional provisions." 

It also dismissed the prayer for stay and stated, "In such circumstances, we are unable to accede to the prayer for stay."

Several petitioners had appealed in the High court from 2016 to 2024 numbering about 284 WPA appeals and 34 MAT appeals against which 318 similar orders  were issued on 22 April 2024:

In the order it has stated, "All appointments granted in the selection processes involved being violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, are declared null and void and cancelled".

The fourteen point order stated the followings :

• OMR sheets available in the three hard disks, if not already done or such portion not done, must be uploaded in the website of SSC forthwith and made available to the public for viewing.
• Persons who had been appointed outside the panel, after expiry of the panel as also those who submitted blank OMR sheets but obtained appointments, must return all remunerations and benefits received by them to the State exchequer along with interest calculated at 12 percent per annum, from the date of receipt thereof till deposit, within a period of four weeks from date.
• In default, the District Magistrates under whose jurisdictions, such candidates reside, will take expeditious steps to realize such amount from such persons, as arrears of land revenue and shall ensure that recovery is made within a period of six weeks of the date of initiation of proceeding for recovery.
• Respective District Inspectors of School will report to the respective District Magistrates as to whether money directed to be paid by the persons concerned have been paid to the State exchequer or not.
• CBI will undertake further investigation in respect of all the four cases. CBI will interrogate all persons who had received appointments beyond the panel, after expiry of the panel and after submitting blank OMR sheets. If necessary, CBI shall undertake custodial interrogation in respect of each of them.
• CBI will undertake further investigations with regard to the persons involved, in the State Government approving creation of supernumerary post to accommodate illegal appointments. If necessary, CBI will undertake custodial interrogation of such person involved.
• CBI shall submit its reports with regard to further investigations as directed herein, preferably within three months from date, with the jurisdictional Court.
• Leave granted to SIT to seek appropriate directions so that the investigations and trials come to their logical conclusions.
• SSC shall undertake a fresh selection process in respect the declared vacancies involved in these selection processes preferably within a fortnight from the date of declaration of results of the ensuing elections.
• Appointments for preparation, evaluation and scanning of OMR sheets shall be made by SSC by open tender and after declaring the eligibility criteria and other terms and conditions of the contract.
• SSC shall follow the Rules governing the selection processes in letter and spirit.
• SSC shall make available all policy decisions with regard to compliance of the Recruitment Rules governing any of the categories of the selection process in its website.

The enquiry report stated that 2,819 OMR sheets and four answer strings were lesser than the marks of the candidates kept in the server of SSC, candidates who secured zero in the OMR sheets were given more than qualifying marks and subsequently appointed. 

It was also stated that some of the persons who were appointed beyond the panel and after expiry of the panel and appointees submitting blank OMR sheets, stands identified,

Thus the court directed that it would be appropriate to direct such persons to return the benefits and usufructs they received through fraudulent means. These are proceeds of crime. Therefore, we propose to issue directions for return and recovery thereof.

On the basis of the report submitted by CBI the court noted illegalities in the selection process like SSC had destroyed the original OMR sheet, appointments had been given to persons who submitted blank OMR sheets and who were not even in the panel and even after the expiry of the panel. 

It also stated that persons placed lower in rank had been given appointment in preference to persons placed higher in rank in the merit list, merit list containing the marks obtained by the respective candidates had never been published, counselling had been held subsequent to the expiry of the panel. 

The illegalities according to the court were established by Justice Bag Committee Report, Reports and affidavits of SSC, Reports and affidavits of CBI as well as conduct of State.

Conclusively the court in its opinion has stated that if the teacher and the nonteaching staff of educational institution, or even a portion thereof, obtains appointments fraudulently, such teacher or nonteaching staff immediately forfeits his integrity, honesty and his ability to impart wholesome education to a child in such an educational institution. An educational institution must be protected against such elements attempting to percolate, let alone permeate into it. It is therefore, imperative and in the beneficial interest of the society that such elements are removed from an educational institution.The court however considered the case of Ms. Soma Das stating since, her appointment was purely on humanitarian grounds (medical), her case will stand outside the directions issued

It is reminded that a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued against 24,640 vacancies. 

The division bench holding that all appointments granted in the selection processes involved were violative of Articles 14 (equality before the law) and 16 (prohibiting discrimination in employment in any government office) of the Constitution, declared those as "null and void and cancelled." 

The bench, in its 282-page judgment, directed the CBI to undertake further investigation in respect of all the four cases it had registered and to interrogate all persons who had received appointments beyond the panel after its expiry, and after submitting blank OMR sheets. The court said that if necessary, the CBI will hold custodial interrogation in respect of each of them. 

The bench directed that the CBI will hold further investigations with regard to the "persons involved, in the state government approving creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments" and custodial interrogation will be done if required. 

The bench said that a CBI probe with regard to the creation of supernumerary posts is imperative to bring to light the nature and extent of the scam and persons involved. "It is shocking that, at the level of the cabinet of the state government, decision is taken to protect employment obtained fraudulently in a selection process conducted by SSC for state-funded schools, knowing fully well that, such appointments were obtained beyond the panel and after expiry of the panel, at the bare minimum," the court said. 

Unless there is a deep connection between the persons perpetuating the fraud and the beneficiaries thereof with persons involved in the decision-making process, such action to create supernumerary posts to protect illegal appointments is inconceivable, the bench observed. 

The court directed the SSC to undertake a fresh selection process for the vacancies in these selection processes within a fortnight from the date of declaration of results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Directing the SSC to follow the rules governing the selection processes in letter and spirit, the court ordered that appointments for preparation, evaluation and scanning of OMR sheets will be made by SSC through open tender process and after declaring the eligibility criteria and other terms and conditions of the contract. 

The court directed that the persons who had been appointed outside the panel after its expiry and also those who submitted blank OMR sheets but obtained appointments, must return all remunerations and benefits received by them to the state exchequer along with 12 per cent per annum interest from the date of receipt till deposit, within a period of four weeks from date. 

Maintaining that retaining appointees selected through "such a dubious process" would be contrary to public interest, the court said, "By dint of the tenure of service of such appointees, successive generations of students would be exposed to these elements which would be counterproductive to public and national interest." Finding illegalities in the selection process on 17 counts, the court noted that OMR sheets had been destroyed without the scanned mirror images being preserved in the server of SSC. 

The bench noted that appointments higher than the declared vacancies had been given in respect of all four categories and to persons who were not even in the panel. It was also found that appointments had been given to persons who submitted blank OMR sheets and that appointments had also been given to persons after expiry of the panel of candidates for selection through SLST-2016. 

The High Court said that persons placed lower in rank had been given appointment in preference to persons placed higher in rank in the merit list. The merit list containing the marks obtained by the respective candidates had never been published, the bench noted. The court said that total beneficiaries of the illegalities are yet to be identified. "We would rather have persons of integrity appointed as teachers through an untainted selection process rather than expose students to elements securing appointments through an unscrupulous selection process...Retaining appointees selected through such a dubious process would be contrary to public interest," the bench observed. 

The High Court, however, made an exception in the appointment of Soma Das, which was made by the single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on humanitarian grounds due to her medical condition (cancer patient), keeping her outside the purview of the directions. The Central probe agency has arrested former state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and some functionaries, who held positions in SSC when the alleged scam took place.