The Supreme Court had said that “non-tainted” candidates will have the right to apply to their previous departments or autonomous bodies to continue in service with those entities.
“These applications must be processed by the respective government departments or bodies within three months, and the candidates will be allowed to resume their positions,” the Division Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said in the order.
West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) chairperson Siddhartha Majumdar told journalists that the commission, in view of the top court order, would seek legal advice on the eligibility of candidates who can take fresh tests.
“About 26 lakh candidates had applied for the exams in 2016, and around 22 lakh appeared for the tests. Of them, some 1.41 lakh candidates were aspirants for teachers posts in classes IX-X and another 1.5 lakh candidates sat for recruitment as teachers in classes XI-XII. The rest were candidates for non-teaching posts,” Mr. Majumdar said.
The SSC chairperson said that the Commission will seek legal clarification on whether new candidates are also eligible to take part in the fresh exams. Mr. Majumdar, however, added it would abide by the Supreme Court directive and soon initiate the process of conducting fresh exams for all teaching and non-teaching candidates.
The panel of about 25,752 teachers and non-teaching staff was appointed on the basis of recruitment carried out by the WBSSC in 2016. The Supreme Court in the order said that WBSSC initially did try to cover up the lapses and illegalities. “We are convinced that the entire selection process was intentionally compromised due to the illegalities involved,” the court noted.
West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu also added that the State Government will act in accordance with the apex court’s directives. The Minister added that the State Government stood with the deprived, deserving candidates from the academic and political point of view, a stand taken by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Ms. Banerjee has called for a gathering of teachers affected by the judgement on April 7 at Netaji Indoor Stadium. The Supreme Court had pointed out widespread irregularities, “indicating a malaise or fraud that has corrupted the process” and a situation “where it is difficult to separate the tainted from the untainted participants.”
Opposition parties, particularly the BJP and CPI(M), have blamed the Trinamool Congress government for the irregularities and the WBSSC for not making it clear before the Court which were tainted and which were untainted candidates among the empaneled teachers and non-teaching staff. With about 25,000 employees not reporting to schools from Friday, the state education system is likely to remain stressed.
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