32000 Teacher Recruitment Case: Here is the important information from the 11th day of the hearing in the 32,000 teacher recruitment case. This day’s hearing has brought forward some crucial questions and issues for the future of the case.
The Res Judicata Issue:
At the beginning of the hearing, Senior Advocate Abhratosh Mojumdar discussed the principle of “Res Judicata,” which prevents the re-litigation of matters that have already been decided. He mentioned that 21 to 26 candidates out of the 139 in the Priyanka Naskar case had previously participated in a case concerning panel publication and reservation policy violations before the bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Hiranmoy Bhattacharya. Among them, six names were specifically mentioned as falling under the “Res Judicata” principle: Selim Ali, Rabiul Sheikh, Hemchandra Sheikh, Ali Hasan Siddique, Sabina Yasmin, Shyam Sundar Das, and Nur Huda. The advocate argued that despite this principle, the court did not thoroughly examine these cases.
Aptitude Test Controversy:
When allegations about the aptitude test were raised during the hearing, the judge expressed annoyance, stating that the same issue was being brought up repeatedly. He questioned whether the absence of a blackboard in the aptitude test or interview room meant that an aptitude test was not conducted. A crucial piece of information was presented by Advocate Abhratosh Mojumdar, showing that the petitioners’ scores in the aptitude test were sometimes equal to or even higher than those of the selected candidates, which contradicts the single bench’s order.
Status of Untrained Candidates:
Mr. Bandyopadhyay, the advocate for the untrained candidates, questioned the maintainability of the case. Citing the MHRD/NCTE guidelines from 2017, he stated that all untrained candidates should have been appointed by that date, and no untrained candidates should be appointed thereafter. He questioned how a writ petition filed in 2022 for the appointment of untrained candidates could be maintainable.
The Court’s Role and the Single Judge’s Conduct:
Questions were also raised about the role of the court and the conduct of the single judge in the case. It was stated that the court cannot investigate or call witnesses in such cases but can only strengthen the writ petition for the benefit of the petitioners.
Allegations of a Scam:
Allegations of a scam related to TET 2014 were also discussed, where MLA Mahua Moitra’s name was mentioned. However, it was clarified that the scam allegations were about the TET examination, not the recruitment or selection process itself.
Conclusion and Next Hearing:
The main points of this day’s hearing included the application of the “Res Judicata” principle, the controversy over aptitude test scores, and the maintainability of the case for untrained candidates. The next hearing of the case is expected to be held soon, where other lawyers will present their arguments.
