The Supreme Court has overturned the interim order of the Calcutta High Court, which directed the West Bengal Board of Primary Education to conduct a fresh selection process for 32,000 teacher positions by the end of August 2023. The division bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and K.V. Viswanathan also requested that the Calcutta High Court expedite the appeal hearing related to the School Jobs for Cash scam.
The petition before the Supreme Court challenged the order of the Calcutta High Court, which stayed the termination of 32,000 teachers but directed a new selection process. The single bench of the High Court had previously ordered the termination of the teachers and the conducting of a fresh selection process within three months. The petitioners argued that while the division bench granted interim relief by staying the termination, the direction for a new selection process was improper.
The West Bengal Board of Primary Education also informed the Supreme Court that conducting a new selection process for 32,000 teachers and conducting interviews within the given timeframe would be impractical and costly.
The Supreme Court agreed with the petitioner's submission that the single judge's order was passed without hearing the petitioners even in a representative capacity. The Supreme Court also noted that the division bench had acknowledged the merit of this contention by staying the termination of the teachers, indicating that the direction for a fresh selection process was unjustified.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court set aside the interim order that directed a new selection process as directed by the single judge. However, the court instructed the petitioners to raise all further contentions, including the ground of natural justice, in the appeal before the division bench.
The controversy arose when a single bench of the Calcutta High Court cancelled the appointment of 32,000 "untrained" primary school teachers who were recruited by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education in 2016. The single bench also ordered a fresh recruitment exercise within three months exclusively for the candidates who participated in the 2016 recruitment process. No new or other candidates were allowed to take part in the recruitment test.
Following the single bench's order, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court stayed the termination of jobs but directed the board to conduct a fresh selection process as previously ordered by the single bench, with a deadline by the end of August.
The Supreme Court's decision to set aside the order for a new selection process comes after considering the practical difficulties and the lack of hearing given to the affected parties. The matter will now be deliberated in the appeal before the division bench of the Calcutta High Court, allowing all contentions to be raised and heard.
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