NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the West Bengal government to let the untainted assistant teachers appointed through the botched up recruitment to continue to remain at work in light of the interest of students of class 9-12.
The apex court, however, said that no non-teaching staff, tainted or otherwise teachers would be allowed to work.
The top court also directed the West Bengal government, education board and W School Services Commission to file affidavit by May 31 enclosing advertisement for fresh recruitment of teachers and undertaking that process of selection would be completed by December 31.
No one allowed to continue as teachers, would get any benefit in the fresh exam, the top court said.
This comes days after, the apex court concurred with Calcutta HC’s decision to cancel the 2016 recruitment of over 25,700 teachers and non-teaching staff for state govt schools, saying the selections were tainted beyond repair.
Dismissing appeals of Mamata govt, West Bengal School Services Commission and 125 successful candidates, a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said, “The entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution.”
In its judgement, SC had said that tainted candidates, who were appointed as teachers or to non-teaching staff posts, “should be required to refund any salaries/payments received. Since their appointments were the result of fraud, this amounts to cheating”.
However, it said even though non-tainted candidates would lose jobs, they won’t be asked to refund salaries and reimbursements they received.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had refused to accept SC’s and said transferring the affected staff would have been a more just solution.
“I have a question here. If the only consequence after crores are recovered from a judge’s house is a transfer, they could have just transferred these 25,000 brothers and sisters as well,” she said, referring to a recent controversy.
“We have no complaint against any judge. But, as a citizen, I have every right to say – with respect to the judiciary – that I cannot accept the judgment,” Banerjee said. “We cannot criticise a judge, but we can express our views on humanitarian grounds.”