News Brief
West Bengal Teachers' Job Scam: Calcutta High Court Cancels Recruitment Of Over 23,000 Staff; TMC And BJP React
Calcutta High Court.
In the latest development on the West Bengal teachers' recruitment scam, the Calcutta High Court on Monday (22 April) canceled the recruitment of over 23,000 staff and asked them to return their salaries with interest.
23,753 teachers and non-teaching staff, who were recruited by the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC), will now have to give up their jobs as the court found the recruitment "illegal".
The bench headed by Justice Debangsu Basak observed, "We have no other way but to cancel the whole recruitment panel," as it believed that the OMR sheets of Group C, Group D, Class IX and X were manipulated.
The court also noted that the names of those who were recruited were included in the panel illegally. It asked for fresh recruitment for the vacated posts within 15 days, Indian Express reported.
While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Kunal Ghosh called the order "unfortunate" asserting that the Mamata Banerjee government will explore legal options, the BJP slammed the ruling party.
West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, "It is now proved that the TMC government recruited teachers for money. They turned teachers into commodities and sold them in the market."
The manipulation of OMR sheets was determined by the Justice Bag committee, which was formed by the Calcutta HC in 2021. The investigation by CBI and ED was also ordered.
Bengal's former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide Arpita Mukherjee with Rs 21 crore cash were arrested in the case in August 2022. Recently, there were ED raids in the case.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest
