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The Calcutta High Court has now pulled up the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) in the case of illegal appointment of school staffers, asking for a fresh affidavit explaining the names of 500 alleged illegally recruited Group D staff members.

The direction has been passed pursuant to the state's School Service Commission submitting on affidavit that not just 25 recruitments as pointed out earlier, but over 500 similar appointments may have been made by the WBBSE, whose legal standing now stands challenged.

The state’s School Service Commission also submitted before the Court that the body had also not recommended the appointment of the 25 Group D staff members, whose appointments are currently under the legal scanner.

It argued that the appointments were, in fact, made by the WBBSE despite the absence of such recommendation.

In 2016, the state recommended recruitment of about 13,000 staff in 4th Class, and the term of that panel ended in 2019. Allegedly, even after the expiration of the term of the panel, the Commission has made a lot of irregular appointments. The present case has been filed in the High Court recommending the appointment of 25 of them.

In an earlier decision, bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay directed the West Bengal Central School Service Commission to stop the payment of salaries to 25 appointees who had allegedly been recruited for the posts of 'Group-C' and 'Group-D' (non-teaching staff) in sponsored Secondary and Higher Secondary schools.

Justice Gangopadhyay had also warned the parties of a CBI probe.

Justice Gangopadhyay while slamming the finger-pointing of the Commission and the Board and stated that, “Everybody who comes before this Court claim they are honest and clean. Yet the society remains steeped in corruption.”

Adding the Board as a respondent in the matter, Justice Gangopadhyay ordered the President of the Board, “who is one responsible officer” to file an affidavit stating where the Board got the recommendation letters, on the basis of which the appointment letters were issued by the Board, on November 22.

Cause Title: Sandeep Prasad & Ors. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors.