Calcutta High Court said on Friday that it can summon West Bengal if needed education Minister Bratya Basu filed a petition in the court regarding the decision to terminate the service of teachers who had denied consideration to illegally appointed teachers in government schools.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s bench even went so far as to say that ultimately the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) could be the “culprit” behind such irregularities.
“If the Commission wishes to terminate the services of the illegally recruited candidates, it can easily do so. What’s the obstacle here? The commission is empowered to do so. If the Commission is unable to do anything in this matter, then the Education Minister of the State may have to be summoned, if necessary,” Justice Gangopadhyay said.
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As per the directions of Calcutta High Court, WBSSC has published the list of total 184 candidates in two different phases who were illegally recruited as teachers in government schools. It is also learned that out of 184 candidates, 81 are already working as teachers in various schools.
Again, nine of that 81 approached the Calcutta High Court on Friday. Justice Gangopadhyay directed the WBSSC to immediately arrange a meeting to be attended by the lawyers of these nine candidates, the counsel for the commission and the chairman of the WBSSC.
He ordered that the meeting review the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets of these nine candidates to ascertain how their names appeared in the merit list, outranking others and submit a report to the court on this count.
“I want a proper answer as to how their names have been overtaken by others and found a place in the recommendation list. There is no need for unnecessary debate in this matter,” Justice Gangopadhyay said. The next hearing of the case is to be held on December 22.
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