Court cancels 2016 Bangladesh school recruitment process, 24,000 jobs eliminated

More than 23 lakh candidates participated in SLST 2016 and 24,640 vacancies were filled.

Kolkata:

The Calcutta High Court on Monday declared the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST) recruitment process in government-aided and aided schools in West Bengal invalid and ordered that all appointments made through the process be cancelled.

A division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi also directed the CBI to conduct further investigation into the appointment process and submit a report within three months.

The bench directed the West Bengal School Service Commission to initiate the fresh appointment process.

More than 23 lakh candidates participated in SLST-2016 and 24,640 vacancies were filled.

Firdaus Shamim, lawyer for some of the petitioners, said a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued for these vacancies.

The Divisional Judge also rejected the request of some appellants seeking a stay on the order.

Soon after the High Court order was issued, hundreds of school job seekers who were waiting outside the premises were ecstatic, with many in tears.

“We have been waiting for this day. After years of street fighting, justice has finally been served,” one of the people said.

A division bench constituted by the Chief Justice of the High Court on the directions of the Supreme Court heard a wide range of petitions and appeals related to the appointment of candidates by the SSC in the Class 9, 10, 10 teacher category. 11 and 12 and Group C and D staff passed SLST-2016.

The hearing on the matter ended on March 20, with the judge reserving judgment.

Based on a petition filed by some candidates who appeared for SLST-2016 but did not get jobs, a bench presided over by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered a probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process of the CBI.

The high court also ordered the termination of several teaching and non-teaching staff after finding irregularities.

While disposing of the petitions related to the matter, the Supreme Court on November 9, 2023 asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to constitute a division bench to hear all petitions and appeals related to the recruitment process through SLST-2016 for early judgment.

The Supreme Court, in its order, granted six-month protection to appointments terminated by the high court to enable a division bench to adjudicate on the dispute.

The CBI has completed its investigation into the matter and submitted a report to the High Court within two months from the date of its order as directed by the Supreme Court.

The central investigating agency has arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and some officials who were serving in the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) at the time of the alleged scam.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)