Calcutta HC stays recruitment of 14,500 teachers

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday stayed the appointment process of 14,500 teachers for upper primary schools in West Bengal which was initiated by the School Service Commission.

Taking up a petition challenging the appointment process saying that prescribed rules were not followed while preparing the interview list of candidates, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered an interim stay on the process.

The court directed that the stay will remain in force till further orders and the matter will be taken up for hearing again on Friday.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Firdaus Shamim, said that the score obtained by a candidate in written examination and other criteria was not mentioned in the interview list of candidates. “Today Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said the interview of candidates cannot take place on the basis of the interview list prepared by the government. It has been observed those who have scored lower marks are on the interview list and those with better marks have been left out. Even marks obtained by the candidates were not mentioned in the interview list. Based on this, the court has stayed the appointment process of candidates,” the lawyer told reporters.

Some of the candidates had filed the petition before the court claiming that the rules of the West Bengal School Service Commission were not followed in drawing up the interview list.

Reacting to the High Court’s order, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said some people are creating roadblocks in the appointment of candidates. “I have observed that whenever the state clears the decks for the appointment of candidates, some people move court against it. This is especially true for Bengal. Those behind this are not doing the right thing. I have nothing to say on the court order. But one should not play with the future of such candidates. Who are these people (who filed the petition)? Without commenting on the court order, I would request everyone to see that the future of these students are not laid to waste,” Banerjee said during a news conference at Nabanna on Wednesday.

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said, “Some candidates died by suicide after not getting jobs. They had even paid money to (TMC) leaders but were deprived of jobs. This is the state of affairs in Bengal. There have been discrepancies in the recruitment process here.”