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Kolkata, Nov 12 (IANS) The six-month-long debate in the matter of irregularities in the recruitment of 32,000 primary teachers in government schools in West Bengal ended in a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday.
However, a division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritabrata Kumar Mitra reserved the verdict in the case and did not even give any date by which the verdict would be pronounced.
The hearing of the case began on April 28, 2025 in the division bench of the Calcutta High Court.
On Wednesday, the state government’s counsel argued in his closing statements that the petitioners in the case alleging irregularities in the appointment of 32,000 primary teachers could not provide sufficient documentary evidence in support of their claims, and hence, there is no substance in their allegations.
However, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and counsel for the petitioners, in his closing statement argued that this was a typical case of institutional corruption, where all laid down norms related to the appointment of teachers were violated.
To recall, in May 2023, a single-judge bench of former Calcutta High Court judge and current BJP Lok Sabha member Abhijit Gangopadhyay had ordered the cancellation of 32,000 primary teacher jobs in the state.
Gangopadhyay passed the order while acting on petitions filed by some candidates alleging that recommendations for appointments were secured despite ranking much lower in recruitment examinations than many disadvantaged candidates.
The state government challenged that order in the division bench, and the matter was referred to a bench headed by Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das De.
However, Justice Sen had recently recused himself from hearing the case, following which the matter was sent to the bench of Justice Chakraborty and Justice Mitra for hearing.
–IANS
Source/UK