Kolkata, July 11 (IANS) A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court will on Monday hear the crucial petition challenging the new rules on “weightage criteria” introduced by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in its notification for fresh recruitment for teaching posts.

The posts in state-run schools have been lying vacant following a Supreme Court order in April this year, cancelling 25.753 jobs.

The Division Bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das, on Friday, sought detailed documents from the commission on the recruitment rules and “weightage criteria” in the notification for the fresh recruitment process.

On Monday, the state government will have to justify to the Division Bench why the new weightage criteria were introduced in the fresh recruitment process.

After the notification for fresh recruitment was issued by the WBSSC last month, it was challenged at the Calcutta High Court’s Single Judge Bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya by a group of petitioners on two grounds.

The first ground was that the commission had illegally allowed “tainted” candidates to participate in the new recruitment process although the Supreme Court in its order in April this year asked for the exclusion of such candidates from it.

The second ground of challenge was on two new “weightage criteria” carrying 10 marks each, under the head of “prior teaching experience” and “lecture demonstration”.

The petitioners contended that the procedures to be followed in the fresh recruitment process should be the same as those followed in 2016, the entire panel of which was cancelled by the Supreme Court in April this year.

Last Monday, though Justice Bhattacharya ruled that the “tainted” candidates should be excluded from the fresh selection process, the Bench refused to rule anything on the new-weightage criteria.

Thereafter, there were two separate petitions at the Division Bench of Justice Sen and Justice Das challenging the Single-Judge Bench order.

The first petition was filed by WBSSC against that part of the order that excluded “tainted” candidates from participating in the new recruitment process.

The second plea was from the same petitioners who initially challenged the fresh recruitment notification. They argued that the Single-Judge Bench order was inconclusive since it did not touch upon the contentions regarding new “weightage criteria” in the recruitment process.

On Thursday, Justice Sen and Justice Das ruled on the WBSSC’s challenge petition and upheld the Single-Judge Bench order regarding the exclusion of tainted candidates.

Now, on Monday, a hearing will be held on the other petition challenging the new weightage criteria.

–IANS

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