The Calcutta High Court cancelled the 2016 recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff to West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools on Monday. The court also directed the State Service Commission to conduct fresh recruitment. Nearly 24,000 jobs got cancelled.
Hearing the case, a division bench comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi declared the 2016 state-level selection test conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission null and void. The bench directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe further into the appointment process and submit a report within three months.
The bench also directed the Commission to initiate a fresh appointment process. The court ordered school teachers who were recruited illegally to return their salaries within four weeks and district magistrates were tasked with collecting the money from these teachers.
Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the 2016 SLST for 24,640 vacant posts. 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 CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process. The high court had also ordered the termination of a number of jobs of teaching and non-teaching staffers after finding irregularities.
However, the Supreme Court later accorded protection to the appointments terminated by the High Court for six months and advised the High Court to form a division bench to hear the petitions.
-with inputs from agencies.
