Kolkata: Case against the Calcutta High Court’s verdict cancelling appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff will be heard by the Supreme Court on May 7. The matter was listed to be heard on Monday.
According to a news agency, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) asked the counsels to prepare a sequence of arrangements amongst themselves to make orderly submissions before the bench. Hence, the matter will be taken up for hearing on May 7.
In the earlier hearing which took place on April 29, the Supreme Court stayed CBI probe with regard to the state government officials involved in approving supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments and to take such persons into custodial interrogation if necessary. However, the Apex Court turned down the prayer for stay of High Court’s direction to cancel the appointments of 25,753 candidates, which includes both teaching and non-teaching staff who were appointed in 2016.
The petition filed by the state government, West Bengal Central School Service Commission and affected employees will be heard by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra.
Ever since the judgement by the special bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi, the candidates who lost their jobs and claim to have been appointed in a ‘fair’ manner have been protesting against the judgement. They had staged a protest outside the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) office recently. The Commission chairman Siddharth Majumder met with 10 representatives from the protesters and explained the legal constraints pertaining to the matter. While expressing his sympathy towards legitimate candidates who allegedly lost their jobs in the case, he assured them that the commission will do everything possible within the legal framework to assist them.