Upper Primary Recruitment: Big Blow to State in Calcutta High Court! 1600 Teacher Posts Cancelled, Strict Verdict on Recruitment Corruption Case
Upper Primary Recruitment: The West Bengal state government has faced yet another significant setback in the ongoing teacher recruitment corruption cases. In a landmark verdict, the Calcutta High Court has cancelled 1,600 additional or ‘supernumerary’ posts created by the state government. These posts were specifically created for the recruitment of teachers in Work Education and Physical Education at the Upper Primary level, which had been mired in legal complexities for a long time. During the hearing in the bench of Justice Biswajit Basu, the court clearly stated that creating such posts outside the legal framework is completely illegal.
Detailed Breakdown of Vacancies
This court verdict has a direct impact on the recruitment process for two specific subjects in Upper Primary schools. A clear breakdown of the additional posts created by the state government in 2022, which have now been annulled, is provided below:
| Subject | Number of Cancelled Posts |
|---|---|
| Work Education | 750 |
| Physical Education | 850 |
| Total Posts | 1,600 |
The ‘Dead Panel’ and Legal Observations
During the hearing of this case, Justice Biswajit Basu made several strong observations. The validity of the panel for the 2016 recruitment process had expired back in 2019. However, three years later, in 2022, the state government created 1,600 new posts based on a cabinet decision. The court severely reprimanded this move, stating that recruiting from a panel after its validity has expired is not constitutionally valid. Describing the situation, the Justice remarked that it was akin to an attempt to revive a “dead panel” by giving it an injection.
Allegations of Misuse of Administrative Power
The court’s verdict highlighted that while the government possesses the administrative or executive power to create vacancies, this power cannot be used arbitrarily. The decision taken by the State Cabinet in May 2022 and the notification issued on May 19 have both been quashed by the court today. According to the Justice, exercising government power to infringe upon the rights of others or to irregularly favor chosen candidates is an offense in the eyes of the law.
Advocate Firdous Shamim, representing the petitioners, welcomed the verdict, stating that the attempt to illegally provide jobs from an expired panel has been thwarted today. He asserted that this list should be scrapped and deserving, deprived candidates should be given an opportunity through a fresh recruitment process. Legal experts believe that this court verdict will play a major role in bringing transparency to the state’s teacher recruitment process in the coming days.
