‘Primary teacher recruitment of 2016 not a corruption case’
Kolkata: During the hearing of an appeal by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) challenging the 2023 cancellation of 32,000 primary teaching jobs, the Advocate General (AG) Kishore Datta submitted in Calcutta High Court that it is not a case of corruption but a case of violation of rules, if at all.
The Division Bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra scheduled the next hearing for June 12, post-summer vacation.
The appeal contests a May 16, 2023, order by former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, with the WBBPE arguing that no evidence of corruption was found in the 2016 recruitment process.
Referring to the last paragraph of the judgement by Justice Gangopadhyay, AG Kishore Datta, representing the WBBPE, argued that the case is not that of corruption but at the most an infraction of rules, if at all.
In the paragraph concerned in the judgement, Justice Gangopadhyay had stated: “This whole imbroglio including corruption involved in the matter has taken place due to the former President of the Board who knew the Rules of recruitment but violated the rules…”
Datta also questioned Justice Gangopadhyay’s decision to cancel the jobs, noting that the petitioners — untrained, unselected candidates — had not sought dismissals but equal consideration. He argued the judge overstepped by acting as a prosecutor, bypassing the petition’s scope.
The petitioners alleged that untrained candidates were unfairly favoured, and no aptitude test occurred. However, the WBBPE maintained that the 2016 recruitment adhered to regulations, with interviews conducted transparently. The board further argued that higher marks alone should not justify nullifying the entire process. The state government supported this, noting the original petition sought opportunities for trained candidates, not terminations.
The matter stems from the 2014 Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), in which approximately 1.25 lakh candidates qualified. In 2016, the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) appointed 42,949 candidates, but allegations of recruitment irregularities led to legal challenges.
In May 2023, the jobs of over 32,000 teachers were cancelled by a single bench ruling, which was later stayed by a division bench. The case then reached the Supreme Court, which sent it back to the HC.
