Calcutta High Court Cancels Thousands of Teacher Appointments in SSC: The Calcutta High Court delivered a landmark verdict on Monday in the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) teacher recruitment corruption case. A division bench led by Justice Debanshu Basak and Justice Mohammad Sabbar Rishidi scrapped the entire recruitment panel of 2016, impacting the jobs of over 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff.
Key Points of the Judgment:
- Cancellation of Appointments: The High Court declared all appointments made through the 2016 SSC recruitment process null and void.
- Salary Repayment: Affected teachers must return their salaries with 12% annual interest within four weeks.
- Public Scrutiny: The School Service Commission will facilitate public inspection of the OMR sheets used in the recruitment process – many of which are already uploaded on the official website.
- Exception for Humanitarian Reasons: In a rare case, the court allowed Soma Das, a cancer patient, to retain her job.
- Fresh Recruitment: The verdict paves the way for fresh recruitment to fill the vacant positions. However, sources suggest new recruitment initiatives might only begin after the Lok Sabha polls due in May 2024.
- Continued Investigation: The Central Bureau of Investigation will continue its probe to identify and apprehend those involved in the corruption.
Impact and Future:
The judgment is seen as a historic move to address the rampant corruption that plagued teacher recruitment in West Bengal for the past three years. However, it also creates a fresh crisis in the state’s education sector due to the large-scale job losses. The state government’s next steps regarding fresh recruitment remain unclear until after the upcoming national elections.
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SSC Official Website: Link
