School job case: Questions arise over authenticity of WBSSC's figures on ineligible candidates

Kolkata, May 8 (IANS) Even as the Supreme Court has put an interim stay on Calcutta High Court's order cancelling 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs in state-run schools in West Bengal recruited in 2016, the authenticity of the figures provided by West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on the number of ineligible candidates among them is still in question.

The questions are being raised over the WBSSC quoting varying figures on the number of ineligible candidates.

On Tuesday, quoting CBI, the WBSSC claimed the total number of illegal appointments in 2016 was 8,861.

However, the Commission had earlier quoted 5,250. Now, the commission's top officials have no answer on how the number increased by over 3,000.

Senior advocate of the Calcutta High Court and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattarcharya, who was present at the apex court on Tuesday as one of the counsels, told IANS that even the figure of 8,861 as quoted by CBI, was not voluntarily submitted by the commission at the court.

"When we gave the figures, they were unable to dispute it," Bhattacharya said.

Legal brains think that although the apex court has put an interim stay on the earlier order of the Calcutta High Court, it comes with several riders.

According to the senior counsel of the Calcutta High Court Kaushik Gupta, the Supreme Court has directed the commission to check out if there was any secondary material available to segregate valid appointments of all the 25,753 persons empanelled in 2016 for various categories of jobs at secondary and higher secondary schools in the state.

"From the legal point of view, it means that the future of the valid appointments will be secured only if the Commission can establish in the apex court that they have been able to segregate the valid appointments through a justified method. If by chance, the commission is unable to establish that fresh uncertainties will surface," Gupta said.

He also said that the matter might not have reached the Supreme Court, had the Commission informed the division bench of Calcutta High Court, that it is in a position to segregate valid appointments.

--IANS

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