Bengal Govt appeals to SC against HC’s Order in SSC Scam
Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal Government appealed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday after the Calcutta High Court ordered the cancellation of over 25,753 appointments of teachers and other non-teaching staff appointed by the State’s School Service Commission on Monday, April 22.
The HC announced its verdict on “SSC Recruitment Case 2016,” declaring the School Service Commission’s (SSC) State Level Selection Test 2016 (SLST-2016) as “null and void.”
The deciding bench, comprised of justices Debangsu Basak and Md. Shabbar Rashidi, had heard over 350 petitions and appeals related to the selection of candidates by the SSC in the categories of teachers of standards 9, 10, 11, and 12, as well as group C and D non-teaching staff, through the SLST-2016.
The court noted that considering the original OMR sheets were destroyed and too many discrepancies were detected in official candidate documents as well as those authorised by senior SSC officials, the bench had no other option than to terminate the entire selection process in 2016.
The court also ruled that all the appointments under SLST-2016 were in violation of Articles 14 (equality before law) and 16 (prohibition of discrimination in employment in any government office) of the Constitution.
In the 282-page judgement, the HC ordered the cancellation of 25,753 appointments and additionally asked all the concerned teaching and non-teaching staff to return the salaries they had been receiving for the last eight years with an additional 12% interest within the next six weeks.
The Bengal Government filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, stating the HC’s decision to “arbitrarily” cancel all appointments under SLST-2016 will leave thousands of schools in the state unmanaged ahead of a new session year.
The state government stated that the sudden verdict for appointment cancellation of over 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff will result in the state’s educational institutions being crippled, as alternate plans and procedures have not been formulated yet and cannot be just drawn up overnight.
The appeal made to the SC also highlighted the HC verdict of starting a fresh selection process within two weeks of the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results.
Bengal SSC Recruitment Scam 2016 verdict comes as a blow to govt.
The crucial verdict ahead of the Lok Sabha elections is bound to deal a heavy blow to the state government’s political party’s (TMC) poll expectations. Thousands of candidates have been protesting on the streets of Kolkata over the last 5 years and have been arrested by Kolkata Police on several occasions, following minor skirmishes with the police.
The case was first raised in HC by the petitions of several candidates who had passed the teacher eligibility test (TET), interviews, and personality tests but did not receive their joining letters even after the results were declared.
Following a preliminary investigation, the HC appointed a special committee to look into the case. The committee cited numerous irregularities in the SSC-issued appointment letters that were based on recommendations from the SLST-2016.
The committee also found several unauthorised vacancy announcements in the SSC database, false recommendations, and evidence of tampering with answer sheets as several candidates had submitted empty OMR sheets.
Several candidates who had not appeared for the SSC exam reportedly received appointment letters; as a result, the HC asked the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to carry on further investigations.
The scam received further limelight when Bengal’s former Education Minister, Partha Chatterjee, and several other high-ranking officials of the West Bengal School Service Commission were arrested in July 2022 over alleged involvement in the said scam.
Over the years since TMC came into power, several such scams have been uncovered, revealing an extensive nexus of power and big money. The allegations of cash-for-jobs are not a first for the state government. But the announcement of the verdict ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next month is set to hamper TMC’s grip on Bengal.
Bengal HC Verdict Exposes SSC Scam Corruption in the govt’s highest echelons
With thousands of candidates still continuing their protests on the streets of Kolkata, the verdict on Monday comes as a hard blow to them as well. Despite passing the SSC on their own merits, the HC verdict has sealed their fates.
All the protests done by the candidates over the last four years will have been deemed futile if the SC upholds the HC verdict. If the SC does not rule in favour of the state government, then the public lash back ahead of the LS polls will be severely detrimental to TMC.
