The selection procedure for the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and assisted schools was ruled void by the Calcutta High Court on Monday. This order voids the hiring of about 24,000 employees, both teaching and non-teaching.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was also given instructions by a division bench made up of justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi to look into the appointment process further and submit a report in three months.
The court has also mandated that individuals involved in the invalidated appointments have to return their salaries within four weeks.
It also ordered new recruitment procedures to commence within 15 days. The CBI’s investigation will continue during this period.
However, an exception was made for a cancer patient, Soma Das. She will not lose her job.
As per the CBI’s submission to the court, a total 21,000 candidates were recruited illegally in all categories of WBSSC and more than 9,000 OMR sheets were tampered with in the process.
Earlier in February, the CBI had arrested six people, including former education minister Partha Chatterjee, in connection with its investigation into the alleged irregularities.
Those arrested were allegedly working as agents, collecting money from candidates, and facilitating their employment in various schools across the state, the federal agency had said.
In order to expedite resolution, the Supreme Court had asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court in November 2023 to form a division bench that would hear all petitions and appeals pertaining to the hiring procedure carried out through SLST-2016.
In its order, the Supreme Court had given the appointments that the High Court had declared invalid a six-month buffer, giving the division bench time to settle the disagreements. The CBI was also directed by the Supreme Court to finish its investigation within a certain amount of time and present its findings to the court.
