April 25th 2024.
In a recent development, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has released a statement claiming that they have provided the Calcutta High Court with a list of approximately 5,300 appointees from the 2016 school recruitment panel who were suspected of having fraudulent appointments. They have also stated that the remaining 19,000 teachers who were appointed during this recruitment process are likely to be eligible.
Chairman of the WBSSC, Siddhartha Majumdar, addressed the media and explained that the lists submitted to the court were based on two specific irregularities - manipulation of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets and rank jumps. These irregularities were found in a total of 5,300 candidates who were recruited for Groups C and D, as well as for teachers in classes IX-X and XI-XII.
This development comes after a special bench of the high court passed a judgment on Monday, scrapping all 25,753 appointments made through the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST) in government-sponsored and aided schools in West Bengal. The court has also directed that some of these recruits will have to return the salaries they have received, along with 12% interest per annum.
The court's decision to cancel the entire appointment panel was due to the non-cooperation of the WBSSC and the state government in providing the names of the illegally recruited candidates. The judgment mentioned 17 types of irregularities that were used in the recruitment scam.
Majumdar clarified that the WBSSC has found over 19,000 candidates from the 2016-SLST test to be eligible and free from any irregularities in their appointments. He also mentioned that the commission has filed a review petition before the Supreme Court, challenging the Calcutta High Court's judgment.
He also addressed the allegations made by some individuals that the WBSSC did not inform the court or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about their findings. Majumdar stated that the commission had provided answers to all four queries posed by the court and the CBI had agreed with many of their submissions. He also added that not all of the 25,753 candidates can be considered fraudulent and the CBI is free to make their own analysis and observations.
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