Achi news desk-
GUWAHATI: The state of West Bengal has approached the Supreme Court in a special leave petition (SLP) challenging the order of the Calcutta High Court, which invalidated nearly 24,000 teaching and non-teaching posts filled in the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment process.
The Calcutta High Court’s ruling, given on April 22, canceled these jobs across the government and aided schools in the state, following revelations of a cash-for-work scam. The state of West Bengal, in its petition, claims that the Supreme Court erred in invalidating the entire SSC recruitment process in 2016, affecting around 23,000 teaching and non-teaching staff. The state claims that the High Court should have differentiated between valid and invalid appointments, instead of canceling the entire procedure.
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The state also claims that the High Court relied solely on oral arguments without any supporting affidavits, which led to a flawed verdict. The petition claims that the High Court’s decision creates a vacuum in state schools that will be difficult to fill without a new recruitment process, which may affect The students as a new academic session approaches.
In addition, the state claims that the High Court ordered the SSC to conduct a new selection procedure for vacancies announced within two weeks of the results of the upcoming elections, which the state believes is not responsible for the problem of understaffing in schools.
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The Calcutta High Court found serious irregularities with the Optical Recognition (OMR) sheets, which led to the cancellation of the entire panel of the SSC 2016 recruitment process. The High Court observed that many OMR sheets were blank, indicating fraudulent activities, and ordered a New recruitment process.
Furthermore, the court ordered those fraudulently appointed to return the salaries they drew. He also directed an investigation of those responsible for the recruitment fraud.
