More and more skeletons seem to be coming out of the cell, despite the Calcutta High Court continuing to hear of alleged irregularities in the appointment of Group D employees in government schools in West Bengal.
NS West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) After Thursday’s hearing, he found himself on a sticky wicket. The state’s School Service Commission submitted an affidavit before the court stating that the body had not recommended the appointment of 25 Group D staff members, whose appointments are currently under legal scrutiny. It argued that the appointments were, in fact, made by the Board despite the absence of such recommendation.
During Thursday’s hearing it also learned that not only are 25 appointments being considered, the board may have given over 500 similar appointments, whose legal status is now challenged.
The Board, on the other hand, argued that it had made the appointments only on the basis of the recommendation of the Commission. The court has now directed the board chairman to submit an affidavit stating his position by 3.30 pm on Monday, when he will hear the matter next.
Read | CBSE, CISCE Term 1 Board Exam 2022 Live Updates: SC disposes of petition seeking hybrid exam
The court has also directed the commission and the board to preserve all documents related to the appointment of Group D staff in schools till the disposal of the matter. It has already directed the government to stop disbursement of salaries to those recruits whose recruitment is under investigation.
Presiding over the hearing where both the agencies blamed each other on irregularities, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay reprimanded the commission and the board and said, “Everyone who comes before this court claims that they are honest and clean. Yet the society is steeped in corruption.”
Meanwhile, the Bengal government has proposed a probe into the so-called “scam” by a high-powered committee headed by a retired judge, to which the petitioners have also prima facie agreed.
Back in 2016, Mamata Banerjee The government had approved the appointment of around 13,000 Group D employees in government schools. Based on that approval, the Bengal School Service Commission conducted examinations, interviews and prepared a panel of prospective employees whose validity expired in May, 2019.
Earlier this month, a section of candidates who failed to secure appointments despite being included in the panel moved the court alleging that the commission illegally recommended appointments from the panel even after its termination Was. The petitioners presented 25 such “illegal appointments” and drew the court’s attention to the “deep-rooted corruption mechanism” that was firmly seated within the system.
During back-to-back hearings this week, the court slammed the commission and warned of a CBI probe into the corruption allegations, if necessary. Justice Gangopadhyay had also vehemently said that he was toying with the idea of deploying central forces in the commission’s office to prevent tampering of recruitment documents.
“It is shocking that the Commission and the Board are now pointing fingers at each other and neither are ready to bear the responsibility of this corruption. We want a fair probe into this. We do not want any state agency to investigate. We are ready to accept a high level judicial inquiry. Otherwise, the matter should be handed over to the CBI,” said Bikram Banerjee, counsel for one of the petitioners.
read all breaking news, breaking news And coronavirus news Here. follow us on Facebook, Twitter And Wire,
,