Calcutta HC cancelled slection process of teachers

The Calcutta High Court on Friday cancelled the selection process for appointment of candidates to the post of assistant teachers for upper primary schools in the state by the West Bengal School Service Commission and directed it to hold a fresh process of selection. After hearing a number petitions seeking cancellation of the entire selection process on the ground that rules were not followed, Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya passed the judgement directing the commission to hold a fresh selection process of all the candidates who were found to be eligible to apply as per criteria set by the commission and proceed onwards from that stage. The notification  was published for the said posts on September 23, 2016.

The court said that the commission will proceed to verify the validity of TET certificate, academic and professional qualifications as provided under the West Bengal School Service Commission (Selection for Appointment to the Posts of Teachers for Upper Primary Level of Schools) Rules, 2016. The database and the selection of eligible candidates for verification must consist of all candidates who had applied online for the selection process, it directed.Observing that the court is aware of the serious shortage of teachers in the relevant classes in schools across the state, it directed that the selection process must be completed by July 31, 2021.The verification process must commence on January 4 and be completed within April 5. The court directed that the commission will be at liberty to conduct the evaluation on the virtual mode wherever possible and adopt health and safety protocols which are warranted under the present circumstances or as long as the concerns relating to the pandemic remain.

The petitioners challenged the selection process claiming failure of the selection authority in complying with the West Bengal School Service Commission (Selection for Appointment to the Posts of Teachers for Upper Primary Level of Schools) Rules, 2016 at every stage. They claimed that lesser qualified candidates with inferior academic qualifications and lower TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) weightage have been included in the merit list and that the interview list has been published without disclosing the specific marks obtained by the candidates.