Calcutta HC adjourns hearing of school education secretary as SC grants stay in recruitment case

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Friday adjourned hearing of the West Bengal School Education secretary, who was directed to appear before it to answer queries on matters related to recruitment in educational institutes after being informed by the state's lawyer that the Supreme Court has granted a stay.

School Education Department Secretary Manish Jain appeared before the court of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. A division bench on Thursday dismissed appeals by the state government and the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (SSC) challenging orders of Justice Gangopadhyay on November 23, wherein the secretary was directed to appear personally. Justice Gangopadhyay, who was speaking with the School Education secretary during hearing on the matter on Friday, adjourned proceedings involving appointments of candidates by creating supernumerary posts, after the state's lawyer submitted that the Supreme Court granted stay on the matter on appeals by the West Bengal government and the SSC.

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He had on Wednesday directed the School Education secretary to personally appear for giving replies to some questions by the court. Justice Gangopadhyay had on November 23 also directed the CBI to investigate on whose instruction an application was filed before it by the SSC to secure the jobs of staff illegally recruited for state government-sponsored and-aided educational institutions by creating extra posts.

He had said that in the application, submissions were made before the court to pass an order whereby illegally appointed persons' services would be retained by creating supernumerary posts and the genuine candidates' appointments in lieu of available vacancies will also not be disturbed. The division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Partha Sarathi Chatterjee , while dismissing the appeals by the state and the SSC, had noted that the application was filed on September 27.

It was done subsequent to issuance of a government memo on May 19, 2022 by which 6,861 supernumerary posts for teaching and non-teaching staff were created for absorbing the waitlisted candidates as per approval of the state Cabinet. The bench had noted that there was no direction in the memo for accommodation of any illegal appointee. The state government and the SSC moved the Supreme Court challenging the orders of the division bench, which had upheld the single bench orders wherein the CBI was directed to find out within seven days on whose instruction the application was filed.