Snehal Upadhyay-
The High Court of Calcutta lifted the imposition of the interim stay order on the West Bengal government on its ongoing process of recruitment of primary school teachers.
In the earlier order given by Justice, Abhijit Gangopadhyay had ordered for an interim stay in the procedures of recruitment of primary school teachers due to complaints about irregularities in the making scheme and selection process.
On Friday, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay mentioned that the West Bengal School Service Commission had abided by the directions issued and lifted its earlier interim stay order.
The Court observed, “As the Court’s order passed on 2nd July 2021 has been complied with by the Commission within the timeframe, I recall the restraining order put upon the Commission from taking further steps pursuant to the interview list. Now there is no such restraining order on the Commission and the Commission is free and expected to take steps immediately so that recommendations can be made by the Commission to the interview-listed candidates.”
To further deal with the grievances of the candidates whose names are not yet mentioned in the interview list, the Court has ordered the Commission to address such candidates individually and conduct a personal hearing.
The Court has stated that for conducting such personal hearings the officers involved should not be below the rank of Secretary of the Commission.
The Advocate General showed his concern that conducting such personal hearings might not be useful as there are thousands of representatives before the Commission.
Further, the Court made a recommendation to the state to give five years of duration for the next selection test for the Assistant Teachers Upper Primary only to those candidates who had participated in the first State Level Selection Test which was initiated in 2016.
“A large number of candidates may not get any further opportunity to appear in the next selection test for the posts of Assistant Teachers in the Upper Primary Schools if the age relaxation is not given to them”, the Court contended
The Advocate General asked for more time to abide by the directions so issued by the Court but Justice Gangopadhyay refused to that and said “This matter is pending for more or less five years and I do not want to keep this matter pending for even a single day”.
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