• Source:JND
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Calcutta High Court on Monday declared the entire panel of 2016 SSC recruitment null and void while stating irregularities in the appointments from class 9 to 12 and groups C and D workers. The court rejected all the appointments through the 2016 state-level test conducted by West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) and instructed the administration to take necessary actions on fresh appointments in the next 15 days.    

The division bench, consisting of justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi, declared these appointments ‘null and void’ and ordered a new recruitment process to be conducted. The court’s ruling also requires those who were appointed to return their salaries within a six-week period. This verdict affects over 23 lakh candidates who had appeared for the State-Level Selection Test (SLST) for 24,640 vacant posts.

The case came to light following the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) probe, ordered by the high court, which led to the arrest of former state education minister and TMC leader Partha Chatterjee, along with some officials from the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) due to the alleged scam. 

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What is alleged West Bengal Teacher Recruitment Scam?

The notification for the appointment of teachers in state-run schools through State Level Selection Test (SLST) was initially published in 2014 and the recruitment process began in 2016. However, a series of petitions were filed alleging anomalies in the recruitment process, including claims that many examinees who scored lower marks were ranked higher on the merit list and some applicants who were not on the merit list received appointment letters.

In a related case, the West Bengal government had issued a notification in 2016 for the SSC to recruit 13,000 Group-D employees for state-run/aided schools. The panel responsible for making these appointments had expired by 2019 yet allegations emerged that at least 25 individuals were appointed by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) with some petitioners claiming that  over 500 people were appointed after the panel’s expiration, who  drew salaries from the state government.

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The High Court’s response to these allegations was stern. Initially, a single bench ordered a CBI enquiry into the Group C and D recruitment case, refraining from making any observations during the ongoing investigation. The Mamata Banerjee government challenged this order, leading to a stay and the formation of a committee to investigate the allegations. The division bench later sought affidavits from the SSC and WBBSE, which provided contradictory statements regarding the appointments.

The implications of the High Court’s observations have been significant for the department of school education. The probe uncovered irregularities in the recruitment process, resulting in job losses for at least 10,000 individuals. Notably, no exams have been conducted for the recruitment of teachers in state-run schools since 2016, leaving over 60,000 teacher positions currently vacant.