Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has delivered a significant decision, restoring the jobs of 32,000 primary teachers. A bench of Justices Tapobrata Chakraborty and Ritabrata Kumar Mitra quashed former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s order canceling their jobs. After hearing the case on November 12, the two-judge bench had reserved its decision.
What the Calcutta High Court Said:
This High Court decision brings relief to primary teachers appointed under the 2016 panel. The Primary Education Board also received relief. On Wednesday, in the case of cancellation of 32,000 primary teachers, the division bench stated, “Sufficient evidence of irregularities is required to cancel the entire recruitment process.” The CBI investigation did not uncover evidence of widespread corruption in this recruitment process. Therefore, the court upheld the jobs of 32,000 primary teachers.
Corruption Claims Denied:
State Advocate General Kishore Dutta virtually dismissed the claims of irregularities. State AG Kishore Dutta claimed in court that there was no corruption in the 2016 primary teacher recruitment exam.
What’s the Case:
The recruitment process for those who passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) began in 2014. In 2016, 32,000 teachers were appointed at the primary level. However, several allegations of irregularities and corruption surfaced soon after the recruitment, including non-conduct of aptitude tests, OMR fraud, non-compliance with the reservation policy, and rank manipulation.
Delivering the verdict in the recruitment corruption case, former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay cancelled 32,000 primary jobs on May 12, 2023. The state government challenged this decision in a division bench of the High Court. A division bench of Justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya stayed the termination order.
The matter later came before a division bench headed by Justice Soumen Sen. On April 7, Justice Sen recused himself from the case due to personal reasons. Subsequently, the case was heard before a division bench headed by Justice Tapobrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritabrata Kumar Mitra.
