W. Bengal Teachers Recruitment Scam: Calcutta HC Reserves Verdict In Appeal Against Single-Judge Order

The Calcutta High Court recently reserved its verdict on an appeal filed against a single-judge order cancelling appointments of over 36,000 teachers in illegal recruitment scam in West Bengal.

A division bench of Justice Subrata Talukdar and Justice Supratim Bhattacharya said it would pronounce its verdict in the matter on 19th May, 2023.

The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) filed an appeal against Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s order.

On May 12, Justice Gangopadhyay passed an order cancelling the appointments of 36,000 teachers, claiming that he could smell “stinking rats” in the school jobs for cash scam.

The single-judge was hearing cases involving illegal recruitment in West Bengal schools when he was told that during the 2016 recruitment process, thousands of “untrained” candidates were appointed despite scoring lower in the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) and other counts.

The bench noted that in order to hire such candidates who scored less, they were given extra or maximum marks in aptitude tests that were only shown to be conducted on paper.

The judge noted that no selection committee was formed for the purpose of selecting eligible candidates; instead, it was done by one outside agency, a third party that was not affiliated with the Education Board in any way.

According to the single-judge, this was a clear violation of the Recruitment Rules.

As a result, he had cancelled the appointments of all 36,000 untrained candidates during the 2016 recruitment process.