The West Bengal government has moved the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court’s decision invalidating the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff by the state’s School Service Commission (SSC) in state-run and state-aided schools. Challenging the high court’s ruling, the state government, in its appeal submitted before the apex court, argued that the High Court annulled the appointments “arbitrarily”.
“The high court failed to comprehend the implications of annulling the entire selection process, which directly leads to the immediate termination of teaching and non-teaching staff from service without allowing adequate time for the petitioner state to address such an emergency, thereby bringing the education system to a halt,” the plea stated.
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court, on Monday, declared the selection process as “null and void” and instructed the CBI to investigate the appointment process. It also directed the central agency to furnish a report within three months.
The high court specified that individuals appointed beyond the officially available 24,640 vacancies, those appointed after the official recruitment date had expired, and those who submitted blank Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets but still secured appointments, must return all remunerations and benefits received by them with 12 per cent interest per annum within four weeks.
While acknowledging the concern that legally appointed individuals would be disadvantaged if the entire selection process were nullified, the bench noted it had little alternative.
The high court determined that all appointments made were in violation of Articles 14 (equality before law) and 16 (prohibition of discrimination in employment in any government office) of the Constitution.
“It is startling that, at the level of the state government’s cabinet, a decision was made to safeguard employment acquired fraudulently in a selection process conducted by the SSC for state-funded schools, fully aware that such appointments were made beyond the panel and after the panel’s expiration, at the very least,” the high court remarked.
It emphasized that unless there is a significant connection between those perpetrating the fraud and the beneficiaries with individuals involved in the decision-making process, the action to create supernumerary posts to safeguard illegal appointments is “inconceivable”.
The division bench also dismissed a plea by some appellants, including the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), for a stay on the order and directed the commission to commence a fresh appointment process within a fortnight from the date of the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Supreme Court
Constituted by the Chief Justice of the high court on the Supreme Court’s directive, the bench heard 350 petitions and appeals pertaining to the selection of candidates for appointment by the SSC in the categories of teachers of classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 and group-C and D staffers through the SLST-2016.
In its 282-page verdict, the high court emphasized that retaining appointees selected through “such a dubious process” would be contrary to public interest.
