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Calcutta High Court gives nod for school hiring

Appointment of those recruited illegally on the basis of fake recommendation letters would be cancelled

Tapas Ghosh, Subhankar Chowdhury Kolkata Published 22.09.22, 07:01 AM
Calcutta High Court

Calcutta High Court File Picture

The high court on Wednesday asked the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to start the process of recruiting 850-odd Group C and Group D employees for government-aided secondary schools and said the appointment of those recruited illegally on the basis of fake recommendation letters would be cancelled.

The high court on Wednesday asked the WBSSC to start the process of recruiting 850-odd Group C and Group D employees for government-aided secondary schools and said the appointment of those recruited illegally on the basis of fake recommendation letters would be cancelled.

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“We don’t want to keep the deserving candidates waiting any longer…. Could the commission say how many illegal recruitments have been made?” Justice Ganguly said during the hearing.

He also asked the CBI on Wednesday to submit a report by September 28 on its investigation into complaints of irregular recruitments. “I ordered a probe (into the complaints of irregular recruitments) in April. Five months have passed,” Justice Gangopadhyay had observed recently.

The CBI on Wednesday submitted a progress report before the court and the lawyer appearing for the agency told the judge that his client would complete the probe soon.

In early April, he had issued an order directing the CBI to interrogate and start proceedings against Shanti Prasad Sinha, a former chief adviser to the commission, in relation to allegations of corruption in the recruitment of school staff.

Sinha was arrested in August. A former chairman of the commission, Subires Bhattacharyya, who is also vice-chancellor of North Bengal University, was arrested by the CBI on Monday in connection with the allegedly illegal appointment of non-teaching staff and assistant teachers for classes IX and X in government-aided schools. Siddhartha Majumdar, chairman of the commission, said: “We have started the process so the notification for counselling is issued by September 28, as ordered by the court.”

The judge on Wednesday expressed his dissatisfaction with the commission for its failure to furnish a district-wise breakdown of vacant posts of group C and Group D staff.

He said: “They (SSC) should engage me for the purpose.”

Justice Gangopadhyay on Wednesday said the process of recruitment of teachers for classes IX and X in secondary schools would be started soon.

An official of the commission said they would meet with lawyers of the petitioners who have alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers, to start the process of recruitment.

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