logo
Calcutta HC to hear primary teachers' termination appeals on April 28

Calcutta HC to hear primary teachers' termination appeals on April 28

The Calcutta High Court will on April 28 take up for hearing appeals challenging the termination of around 32,000 jobs of primary teachers.
The matter was mentioned on Monday before a division bench, comprising justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, before which the appeals were assigned by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam after another bench released the matter.
The division bench said that the appeals by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education and others, including some of those who were recruited, challenging the termination of jobs of primary teachers by a single bench, will appear before it on April 28 for hearing.
Releasing the matter from its court on April 7, a division bench comprising justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De directed that the appeals be placed before Chief Justice Sivagnanam for assignment to a different bench.
The division bench cited "personal reason" of Justice Sen for releasing the matter from its list for hearing.
A single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had on May 12, 2023, ordered the cancellation of the appointment of around 32,000 candidates who had not completed the teachers' training course when they were recruited as primary teachers through a selection process in 2016 on the basis of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) of 2014.
A division bench had later stayed the single bench order terminating the jobs of around 32,000 teachers in West Bengal government-run and aided primary schools.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Calcutta HC questions Bengal govt over monetary support to sacked non-teaching staff
Calcutta HC questions Bengal govt over monetary support to sacked non-teaching staff

Indian Express

time7 hours ago

  • Indian Express

Calcutta HC questions Bengal govt over monetary support to sacked non-teaching staff

The Calcutta High Court on Monday reserved its judgment on a petition challenging the West Bengal government's decision to provide monetary relief to Group C and D employees whose jobs were terminated by the Supreme Court in April this year. Before reserving its order, the single bench of Justice Amrita Sinha posed some pointed questions to the state government. Questioning the decision of giving monthly `25,000 and `20,000 monthly allowance to the sacked Group C and D staff, Justice Amrita Sinha said: '…How was the amount decided… Will they get money sitting at home? For how long will they be paid?' On being informed by Advocate General Kishore Dutta that the money is being disbursed from April 1, Justice Sinha asked why the State government was in such a hurry to give allowance. 'Right now, the money should not be disbursed. There are some protocols that are to be followed,' Justice Sinha added. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for petitioners — two waitlist candidates Prakash Mandal and Jhantu Kumar Bera — argued that monetary allowances cannot be given to the sacked Group C and D staffers as their recruitment was termed illegal by the Supreme Court. To this, Advocate General Dutta, representing the state government, questioned the locus standi of the petitioners and said they should approach the Supreme Court since they claim that the scheme in question violates the order of the apex court. 'We should see who have filed these petitions… those on the waiting list. This is not a Public Interest Litigation. Those on the waiting list cannot have any grievance on this matter. Plus, the state government has the authority to take such decisions. This power is given to the State by the Constitution. And the allowance that is being given purely on humanitarian grounds,' Dutta argued. Justice Sinha then remarked: 'The state will provide allowances month after month to run their families, but they will not work?.. It is clear that these individuals will sit at home and get money. Does the state have any scheme for those who are deprived or are sitting on the road, or are unemployed?' The Advocate General said the scheme was 'temporary in nature', and would come to an end once the apex court takes a final decision on the review petitions of the state government.

Many discrepancies in TET results, claim candidates
Many discrepancies in TET results, claim candidates

Time of India

time10 hours ago

  • Time of India

Many discrepancies in TET results, claim candidates

Ranchi: Hundreds of Teacher Eligibility Test-qualified candidates protested at the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) office in Namkum on Monday under the banner of TET Safal Sahayak Adhyapak Sangh alleging discrepancies in the recently published document verification (DV) list for the recruitment of 5,008 mathematics and science teachers for classes VI to VIII. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The protesters, many of whom travelled from remote districts of the state, claimed that despite meeting all eligibility criteria and securing the qualifying marks, their names were unjustifiably excluded from the DV list released on June 6. Meena Kumari, women president of the Sangh, said, "We followed every instruction, took the exams seriously, and qualified in all four papers. Still, our names are missing." They said the exclusion affected hundreds of candidates who cleared all the papers as per the final answer key-cum-response sheet, which was released on April 20. State coordinator of the Sangh, Simanta Ghosal, said, "As per recruitment rules, a minimum of 40% marks in papers 2, 3, and 4 is required for eligibility. However, despite fulfilling this criterion, many deserving candidates were omitted." Another concern raised by the protesting teachers is related to JSSC's affidavit submitted in the Jharkhand high court in which the commission assured that 6,000 candidates would be called for DV against 5,000 posts. But as per the notice, only 2,734 candidates have been shortlisted. Member of the Sangh, Jitendra Prasad, said, "JSSC gave a written commitment in court to call 6,000 candidates. Now they've called less than half of that. How can we trust the process?" The protestors further alleged that candidates with lower marks have been shortlisted and have demanded an explanation from JSSC about the criteria adopted for shortlisting DV candidates. The Sangh has also submitted a formal representation to minister of water and sanitation department, Yogendra Prasad, with their demands. Education minister Ramdas Soren said, "It is the responsibility of JSSC to conduct examinations fairly, but if such allegations are being raised, we will look into the matter to understand what is going on."

Calcutta High Court reserves verdict on petition against state's aid to dismissed non-teaching staff
Calcutta High Court reserves verdict on petition against state's aid to dismissed non-teaching staff

United News of India

time13 hours ago

  • United News of India

Calcutta High Court reserves verdict on petition against state's aid to dismissed non-teaching staff

Kolkata, June 9 (UNI): The Calcutta High Court on Monday reserved its judgment on a petition challenging the West Bengal government's recently introduced scheme that offers monetary assistance to non-teaching staff dismissed following a Supreme Court verdict. Justice Amrita Sinha reserved her decision on the petition, which opposes the state's plan to pay ex-gratia amounts of Rs 25,000 to Group C and Rs 20,000 to Group D employees. During the case hearing, Justice Singh questioned the state as to why the decision to grant the allowance was taken so hastily, without any discussion or scrutiny, following the Supreme Court's verdict. Justice Sinha also raised questions about the allowance amount. Addressing the state, she asked, "Why were the amounts set at Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000? On what basis were these figures determined?" The West Bengal government had launched the scheme to provide temporary financial relief and social security on humanitarian grounds to families affected by the dismissals. The scheme applies to Group C and D non-teaching staff who were recruited through the 2016 selection process conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) and have lost their jobs because of Supreme Court order. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, announcing the ex-gratia payments had said that the aid was a one-time measure aimed at supporting those left jobless after the Supreme Court's decision earlier this month in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam. The crisis began on April 3 when a Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld a Calcutta High Court order dismissing 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff from state-run and aided schools. The apex court concluded that the entire 2016 recruitment process had been tainted by large-scale fraud and manipulation. While the court later allowed secondary school teachers (Classes IX–XII) to return to classrooms temporarily, it made no such concession for Group C and D employees. It also ordered the state to complete a fresh recruitment process by December 31. Meanwhile, the state has filed a review petition against the Supreme Court's ruling. 'Since a review petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, how long will the allowance continue to be paid?,' Justice Sinha asked. She also asked the state whether Group C and Group D employees would keep receiving the allowance without doing any work. UNI XC SSP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store