Kolkata, Nov 18 (IANS) A second petition has been filed at Calcutta High Court’s single judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha, on Tuesday, challenging the results of the written examination for fresh recruitment of higher secondary teachers in state-run schools of West Bengal.

The fresh recruitment is taking place to fill vacancies arising from the cancellation of around 26,000 school jobs by a division bench of the Supreme Court earlier this year.

While pronouncing that judgement in April this year, the apex court barred the “tainted” teachers, who had obtained the jobs after paying money, from participating in the fresh recruitment process.

In the petition, the petitioner had argued why candidates with past teaching experience with government-recognised private schools will not be able to enjoy the additional weightage criterion of 10 marks, which is extended to candidates with past teaching experience with state-run schools.

The petition has been admitted, and the matter is expected to come up for hearing this week

This is the second petition filed at Justice Sinha’s bench during the current week, challenging the results of the written examination for fresh recruitment of higher secondary teachers in state-run schools of West Bengal.

On Monday, a petition was filed at the same bench that, in the list of candidates qualifying for interview published by West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Saturday, there are names of several “tainted” candidates, which was in clear violation of the Supreme Court order earlier this year prohibiting “tainted” teachers from participating in the fresh recruitment process.

The Supreme Court, on April 3 this year, upheld an earlier order by a division bench of the Calcutta High Court cancelling the entire panel of WBSSC for 2016.

The Supreme Court also accepted the Calcutta High Court’s argument that the entire panel had to be cancelled since, despite repeated insistence both by the high court as well as the apex court, neither the state education department nor the commission furnished two separate lists segregating the “untainted” candidates from the “tainted” ones.

The apex court directed that the entire fresh recruitment process will have to be completed by December 31 this year.

Although the Supreme Court barred the “tainted” teachers from participating in the fresh recruitment process, it allowed “untainted” teachers to participate.

–IANS

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