WBSSC recruitment case: Calcutta HC steps back from hearing contempt plea

Kolkata, May 7 A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ruled that it would not proceed with hearing a contempt-of-court petition filed against the West Bengal government and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

The petition accused the state authorities of failing to implement a recent Supreme Court order that cancelled 25,753 teaching and non-teaching appointments made through the WBSSC’s 2016 panel.

A detailed hearing in the matter was concluded at the Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi on May 1, but the judgment was delivered on Wednesday.

Last month, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld a 2023 Calcutta High Court decision that invalidated the appointments. The apex court concurred with the High Court’s view that the entire panel had to be scrapped due to the authorities’ failure to distinguish between eligible and ineligible candidates.

The Supreme Court also accepted the observation of the Calcutta High Court that the entire panel had to be cancelled because of the failure on the part of the state government and the commission to segregate the “genuine” candidates from the “tainted" ones.

Thereafter, the contempt-of-court petition was filed against the West Bengal government and WBSSC, accusing the latter of not implementing the order of the apex court.

However, on Wednesday, the High Court bench agreed with arguments made by the state government and WBSSC that the contempt plea could not be entertained by the High Court, as the Supreme Court -- while upholding the earlier ruling -- had also made modifications to that order.

With the High Court stepping aside, it remains to be seen whether the petitioners will now approach the Supreme Court to pursue the contempt proceedings.

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