The secondary teachers and non-teaching staff in the Group-D category in different state-run schools in Kolkata, whose services were terminated following an order from two separate single-judge benches of the Calcutta High Court recently, on Monday, February 13, approached a division bench of the same court challenging the termination orders.
As reported by IANS, the Calcutta High Court's Justice Biswajit Basu ordered the termination of services for 805 secondary teachers in various state-run schools in Kolkata. This was based on a report submitted to the court by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which found evidence of manipulation in these teachers' optical mark recognition sheets during the hiring process. The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) had already initiated the process of terminating their employment.
The secondary teachers and non-teaching staff affected by the termination of services have sought recourse at the Calcutta High Court division bench, consisting of Justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya. Representing the terminated individuals is the senior counsel of the Calcutta High Court, the president of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association, and senior Congress leader Arunava Ghosh.
As reported by IANS, on February 9, the Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay ordered the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to publish a list of 2,819 non-teaching staff on its website within 24 hours and commence the process of terminating their services.
On February 10, the WBSSC uploaded a list of 2,819 non-teaching staff, among whom 1,911 individuals had either received appointment letters or were employed at various state-run schools in the state. The commission then proceeded to terminate the services of those 1,911 individuals and halted the issuance of appointment letters to the remaining 908 candidates.
However, the situation has since become stagnant as both the teachers and non-teaching staff have approached the division bench of the Calcutta High Court to challenge their termination orders.