The Supreme Court gave partial relief to the West Bengal government in the school jobs scam case. The court said that assistant teachers for classes 9 to 12, who were not involved in any wrongdoing, can continue working for now. These teachers were earlier removed from their jobs due to irregularities in the 2016 recruitment by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
However, the court also clarified that their stay is only temporary. They can work only until the government finishes a fresh recruitment process. A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, “Subject to the following conditions that the ad for fresh recruitment will be out by May 31, the exam, including the entire process, shall be done by December 31.”
The court gave a strict warning that if the West Bengal government fails to publish the advertisement for new recruitment by May 31, it will take serious action, including imposing a fine.
This decision does not apply to Groups C and D employees because the court found that a large number of them were involved in irregularities.
What is the school jobs-for-cash scam?
The school jobs scam is about illegal appointments of teachers and other staff in West Bengal government and aided schools in 2016. The Calcutta High Court had earlier located serious issues in the process, like OMR sheet tampering and changes in merit ranks.
On April 3, the Supreme Court had agreed with the High Court’s decision and allowed the cancellation of 25,753 appointments made by WBSSC. These included teaching and non-teaching staff.
Out of 23 lakh candidates, only 24,640 posts were supposed to be filled. But the commission gave out 25,753 appointment letters, which raised questions and led to the investigation.
On May 7 last year, the Supreme Court had stopped the High Court’s cancellation order temporarily but allowed the CBI to continue investigating the scam.
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