HC scraps 2016 recruitment test for Bengal govt sponsored, aided schools

Bengal’s School Service Commissioner said they will move Supreme Court challenging the high court order.

PTI & Agencies, Kolkata (West Bengal): A division bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi ordered the cancellation of all appointments made through it. Nearly 24,000 jobs have been dismissed by the court in this process. The High Court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to undertake further investigation in respect of the appointment process and submit a report in three months.

The bench directed the West Bengal School Service Commission to initiate a fresh appointment process. Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the SLST-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. A total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued against the vacancies, said Firdaus Shamim, a lawyer for some of the petitioners.

Bengal’s School Service Commissioner said they will move Supreme Court challenging the high court order.

The 281-page order is being seen as an embarrassment for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party in the election season. 

Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the 2016 State-Level Selection Test (SLST) for 24,640 vacant posts. 

Following the entrance test, there were widespread allegations of corruption. A large section of unsuccessful candidates launched a stir, saying several of the selected candidates bribed their way to the government jobs. A former state minister and several of TMC functionaries have been arrested in the probe that followed.

The division bench, formed by the Chief Justice of the high court on a direction of the Supreme Court, had extensively heard numerous petitions and appeals relating to the selection of candidates for appointment by the SSC in the categories of teachers of classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 and group-C and D staffers through the SLST-2016.

Hearing in the matters concluded on March 20 and judgment was reserved by the bench.

On writ petitions by some candidates who appeared in SLST-2016, but did not get jobs, a single bench presided by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had ordered a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.

The high court had also ordered the termination of several jobs of teaching and non-teaching staffers after finding irregularities.

Disposing of petitions before it in connection with the matters, the Supreme Court had on November 9, 2023, requested the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to constitute a division bench to hear all the petitions and appeals about the recruitment process through SLST-2016 for early adjudication.

The Supreme Court had in its order accorded protection to the appointments, which were terminated by the high court, for six months to enable the division bench to adjudicate on the disputes.

The CBI had completed the investigation into the matters and submitted a report before the high court per the direction of the Supreme Court to do so within two months from the date of its order.

The central probe agency has arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and some functionaries, who held positions in the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) when the alleged scam took place.