Kolkata, Dec 5 The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Friday filed a caveat in the Supreme Court, requesting that the court should not pass any order without hearing the Commission if a petition is filed against the recent Calcutta High Court judgment on alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in state-run schools.
On December 3, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court -- comprising Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritabrata Kumar Mitra -- set aside an earlier order by a single-judge bench that had cancelled the appointments of 32,000 primary teachers.
After the division bench ruling, several groups unhappy with the decision announced that they would approach the Supreme Court. Senior lawyers from both the BJP and CPI-M also publicly said they were willing to represent these petitioners at the apex court.
Anticipating that a challenge in the Supreme Court is almost certain, the WBSSC filed the caveat to make sure the court does not issue any interim order without hearing its side first.
The single-judge order that cancelled the 32,000 jobs was passed by Abhijit Gangopadhyay -- then a judge of the Calcutta High Court and now a BJP Lok Sabha MP.
On December 4, the High Court division bench ruled that although irregularities had indeed taken place in the recruitment process, it would not be fair to terminate such a large number of teachers who have served for years.
The bench said that innocent candidates who had no role in any wrongdoing should not lose their jobs. It added that cancelling all 32,000 appointments would cause serious hardship to the teachers and their families.
The WBSSC's caveat ensures the Commission will get a chance to present its arguments once any petition challenging the High Court’s order reaches the Supreme Court.
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