The Calcutta High Court's (HC) division bench, comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Uday Kumar, has upheld a previous order issued by a single-judge bench of the same court today, Wednesday, July 19, reports IANS. The order directed the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to publish the Optimal Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets for the recruitment of higher secondary teachers in various state-run schools back in 2016.
The single-judge bench, led by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, had issued this order on July 7 of this year. The directive was for the publication of OMR sheets belonging to 5,500 higher secondary teachers who were recruited in 2016, as well as those who were on the waiting list.
Additionally, the court instructed the commission to release specific details, such as the names and fathers' names of the candidates, along with the names of schools where 907 candidates were appointed. These OMR sheets were tampered with and were central to the investigation conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into a multi-crore school recruitment case in West Bengal.
In response to the single-judge bench's order, the commission challenged it before the division bench of Justice Sen and Justice Kumar. However, after a comprehensive hearing, the division bench upheld the single-judge bench's order, thereby, affirming that the commission must publish the mentioned details by July 28.
Nevertheless, the division bench clarified that there would be no immediate termination of services for the concerned individuals, as any decision regarding this matter would hinge on the outcome of a special leave petition that had been filed at the Supreme Court, states the report.
The division bench also observed that the publication of the OMR sheets was necessary as the court cannot close its eyes in case there was an irregularity in the matter.
