Key Takeaways
- WBSSC to move Supreme Court to challenge Cal HC order cancelling 2016 appointment panel.
- Over 25,000 jobs impacted by the Cal HC order in West Bengal state-aided schools.
- CBI to probe appointment methods and processes in West Bengal education department.
Kolkata: West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Monday announced that it would move Supreme Court to challenge Calcutta High Court ruling cancelling the 2016 appointment panel resulting in the loss of over 25,000 jobs in the government-sponsored and state-aided schools across the state.
A Division Bench headed by Justices Debangshu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi declared all the appointments in 2016 null and void on Monday morning. They directed the CBI to probe the depth to unravel all the appointment methods and processes and submit a report before this court in another three months.
The Double Bench directed the West Bengal School Service Commission to start a fresh appointment process within a fortnight.
Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the 2016 State Level Selection Tests for 24,640 vacant posts.
The CBI had also arrested former education minister Partha Chatterjee and a dozen senior officials in the state education department.
A source said some 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff of the classes IX-X, classes XI-XII and Group C & Group D lost their jobs and they have to return salary with 12 per cent interest by a month.
Chairman of the School Service Commission Siddharth Majumdar told a media conference that the ruling was very harsh and they are considering moving the apex court to challenge the Cal HC order.
” Once we get the verdict (about 300 pages), we will study and consult the lawyers to file in the Supreme Court, ” the SSC chairman said.
Only Soma Das of a school in Birbhum district got respite on health ground.
