Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court on Friday issued an order asking the West Bengal School Service Commission chairman to appear in the court in person on March 24 and clarify why contempt proceedings should not be drawn against him.
In June last year, the court had issued an order directing the WBSSC chairman to award marks to 83 petitioner candidates who had contended that three questions on child development and pedagogy in the 2011 Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) were wrong or based on topics not included in the syllabus.
The court upheld their contention.
The commission’s lawyer told the court on Friday that the benefit was extended to every candidate who had attempted the questions for the sake of parity.
The WBSSC said in an affidavit that if only the petitioners were awarded the marks, other candidates who had attempted the same questions would have demanded the marks as well and the entire recruitment process would be in trouble.
Justice Mantha refused to accept the affidavit and summoned the chairman.
While delivering the order, the judge criticised the WBSSC and said: “Corruption has been prevailing in the SSC for a long time. It seems the SSC has destroyed the future of a generation.”
The commission’s lawyer, Sutanu Patra, refused comment when contacted later.
WBSSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar said: “We have acted in accordance with the law. While appearing in the court next week, I will explain everything.”
Lawyers connected with the case said Justice Mantha refused to accept the affidavit because he said it was in violation of his order.
Following the 2011 TET and an interview, over 30,000 teachers were recruited.
Sources in the commission said around 40 of the 83 candidates had made it to the merit list after being awarded marks for those three questions. “The 40-odd candidates will be recommended for appointment after the school education department notifies us about the vacant posts,” said a WBSSC official.
“Our decision to award marks to all candidates who attempted the three questions, and not just the 83 examinees, did not change the order of merit based on which appointments were made,” said the official.
