Calcutta HC bars ‘tainted’ candidates in alleged recruitment scam from reapplying
The bench directed the West Bengal government to conclude the selection process expeditiously in line with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.
The Calcutta High Court on Monday barred candidates accused of wrongdoing in an alleged cash-for-jobs scam from participating in the fresh recruitment process for assistant teachers in West Bengal, Live Law reported.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharya said that the appointment of the candidates was a result of fraud and cheating. Any application submitted by a “tainted candidate” for the recruitment process stands cancelled, he added.
West Bengal’s school education department on May 30 published a gazette notification regarding the fresh appointment of assistant teachers in upper primary, secondary and higher secondary classes in government-run and government-aided schools.
On July 1, Bhattacharya asked the state government why there was “no express bar to debar the tainted candidates from applying” in the notification.
The court on Monday directed the state government to conclude the selection process expeditiously in line with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court, Live Law reported.
On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s April 2024 order terminating the appointment of about 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by West Bengal’s School Service Commission. The bench passed the order after observing that the recruitment process was “vitiated by manipulation and fraud”.
The top court on April 17 permitted “untainted” teachers to be retained until the end of the academic year or until fresh appointments are made, whichever is earlier. However, it did not grant relief to Group C and Group D employees, or non-teaching staff, whose appointments were also cancelled.
In April 2024, the High Court issued its direction on the termination of the appointments based on the findings of a re-evaluation of the Optical Mark Recognition sheets from the 2016 recruitment examination in the case.
The re-evaluation found that the selected teachers had been recruited against blank Optical Mark Recognition sheets.
Also read: How a hiring scam and a court order drove thousands of Bengal’s teachers into joblessness
