NEW DELHI: The Calcutta High Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on Monday (April 22) regarding petitions and appeals concerning purported irregularities in the selection of candidates for government-sponsored and aided secondary and higher secondary schools in West Bengal through a recruitment process initiated in 2016.
The CBI, acting on the high court’s directive, conducted an investigation into the matter and apprehended former state education minister Partha Chatterjee along with certain individuals holding positions in the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) at the time of the alleged scam.
A bench comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi is slated to pronounced the judgment on numerous petitions and appeals, which were heard collectively, concerning the recruitment process for school jobs. The division bench, formed by the Chief Justice of the high court pursuant to a directive from the Supreme Court, extensively heard multiple petitions and appeals related to the selection of candidates for appointment by the SSC in the categories of teachers for classes 9, 10, 11, and 12, as well as group-C and D staffers through the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST). The hearing in these matters concluded on March 20, and the division bench reserved judgment.
Following writ petitions filed by certain candidates who participated in SLST-2016 but did not secure jobs, a single bench led by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had ordered a CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
Additionally, the high court had ordered the termination of several teaching and non-teaching staff positions upon discovering irregularities.
Upon disposing of petitions related to these matters, the Supreme Court, on November 9, 2023, urged the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to establish a division bench to hear all petitions and appeals regarding the recruitment process through SLST-2016 for swift adjudication. The apex court, in its order, provided protection to the appointments terminated by the high court for a period of six months, allowing the division bench time to resolve the disputes.
The CBI concluded its investigation into the matters and submitted a report before the high court as per the Supreme Court’s directive to do so within two months from the date of its order.