Kolkata: Upholding the Calcutta High Court’s decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered to terminate the appointments of as many as over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016 in connection with jobs for cash scam.
The bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar made strong observations regarding the selection process. They said the appointments amounted to cheating as it resulted from fraudulent practices. “We find no reason to interfere with the decision of the High Court that the services of tainted candidates and their appointment be terminated. Since their appointment was by fraud, this amounts to cheating,” the bench observed.
In some relief to such candidates, the top court noted that the ones already appointed need not hand over the salary given so far. The illegal recruitments in primary and secondary schools across Bengal were allegedly made during the 2016 hiring process.
The High Court had cited serious irregularities such as OMR sheet tampering and rank manipulation in its previous order. It had annulled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools.
On May 7 last year, the Supreme Court put a hold on the High Court’s order. But the apex court had allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to proceed with its probe in the matter.
The allegations of irregularities are linked to the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal SSC, in which 23 lakh candidates competed for 24,640 posts. But 25,753 appointment letters were issued.
A total of 126 appeals, including one from the state government, were filed before the apex court against the High Court’s verdict.
During the ongoing probe into the scam, former Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha, were arrested. Chatterjee is still in police custody.
