Edn dept of WB instructs Advocate General to submit that 313 voluntary teacher of GTA may be cancelled

This submission indicates that the appointment of 313 voluntary teachers was made irregularly by the GTA and is to be cancelled.

KalimNews, Kalimpong, 27, 2024 : The appointment of 313 voluntary teachers in the GTA area appointed during 2019 is cancelled, it is understood from the submission of the Advocate General of the Government of West Bengal during a hearing at Circuit Bench of Calcutta High Court on 25 April. 

During a submission at the High Court pertaining to a case being heard regarding appointment of teachers in the GTA, Kishor Datta, the Advocate General of the state submitted that he has been instructed by the Secretary (Law) Education Department of the Government of West Bengal to submit that the irregular appointments of 313 voluntary teachers in the Government schools within the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration may be cancelled as the Court may consider.

This submission indicates that the appointment of 313 voluntary teachers was made irregularly by the GTA and is to be cancelled.

On 25th of April, 2024, the Calcutta High Court in its order made during the hearing of a case W.P.A. 1089 of 2023 on the petition of Jashimuddin Mondal versus the state of West Bengal, stated that the State is required to put its such stand under an affidavit to be affirmed by the Principal Secretary of the Education Department. 

In accordance to the High Courts order of April 09, 2024, GTA filed a report disclosing the appointment particulars of 313 voluntary teachers and also submitted that the copy of the said report has been circulated.

Advocate General also prayed for adjournment of the further hearing of the matter on the ground that the State has filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court of India challenging the judgment and order dated April 19, 2024. Considering the appeal, the hearing of the case is adjourned and will be heard on May 09, 2024.

The court also recorded that the CBI as per the instruction of the court, handed over it's report in a sealed envelope, which was opened and the report perused and re-sealed. 

The court on April 29, 2024 will rehear the matter to get the progress report of the investigation in respect of the FIR registered in the Bidhannagar (North) Police Station against some of the accused in the matter.

It is noteworthy to mention that cases were filed by volunteer teachers seeking regularisation of appointment in the schools where they were giving their services since a long time and also by those who were not enlisted in the list of 313 selected teachers. 

During 2023, hearing an appeal made by a volunteer teacher who stated that during the process of regularisation of teachers by GTA he was replaced by another person and was deprived of the regularisation.

Justice Bibek Chaudhuri of Calcutta High Court had ordered the District Inspector of Darjeeling by directing  to consider the case of regularisation of the petitioner in view of the established principles of equality and fair play. 

The order further stated that the petitioner is also directed to produce all relevant documents and testimonials regarding his initial appointment and academic qualification to the DI and on consideration of the said documents the petitioner is entitled to be regularised by the DI, and it was to be completed within two months. 

However in this case, the DI told the Court that the names of the petitioners does not appear in the list of 313 volunteer teachers but have been listed in the subsequent list of 10 volunteer teachers, which unlike the list of 313 had no prior approval of the State Government. 

Hence,  it was considered that only those volunteers were regularized whose names appeared in the authentic list of 313 volunteers approved by the Board of Administrators, GTA and also approved by the state. The Court concluded that the reasoned order dated 21st April, 2022 has disclosed a new case and new cause of action for which the petitioner is entitled to file an appropriate application.