Calcutta HC sets aside teacher recruitment panel

Calcutta High Court set aside the selection panel and merit lists for upper primary school teachers across the state citing various irregularities. The panel and the merit list were prepared by the School Service Commission in 2016.

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday dismissed the recruitment process for the upper primary teachers on the basis of 2016 examination.

A single-judge bench led by Justice Mousumi Bhattacharya asked the School Service Commission to hold selection process afresh in January and complete the process in May of 2021.

"There were about two thousand cases related to the upper primary TET examination. As per today's directive, the list of panels and merit lists prepared by the Education Department for recruitment has been completely cancelled. The court also directed to start the recruitment process from January," Bhattacharya said.

"The process of document verification of job seekers has to start from January 8. It will continue till April 5. The interview list has to be released by May10. The court has directed to publish the complete merit list within eight weeks. In today's order, the entire recruitment process would be completed by July 31," she said.

Notably, the matter came before the high court scanner after several candidates moved the court alleging favouritism and several irregularities in the preparation of the panel and the merit list.