Latest news with #SmitaDasDe
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Govt is not to aid wrongdoers': HC frowns on SSC plea
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court, in its judgment on pleas challenging a single bench order barring candidates deemed 'tainted' from participating in SSC's fresh recruitment process, was critical of the state for arguing in their favour and observed that it was "not well-appreciated". "The appellants (School Service Commission and state), knowing fully well that the tainted candidates vitiated the entire selection process, should not have espoused their cause. Govt is not to aid the wrongdoers, and it sends a wrong signal," the HC held. The division bench of justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De on Thursday turned down their pleas seeking to allow tainted candidates to apply in the new recruitment process for over 35,000 vacancies. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing SSC, argued that while Supreme Court directed the termination of tainted candidates' appointments along with a refund of salaries, nowhere in the SC judgment was there any clear bar from participating in future hiring processes. Advocate general Kishore Datta, representing the state, submitted that the exclusion of tainted candidates would amount to a violation of Article 16 of the Constitution. Datta stated that cancellation did not mean that the door for future employment is foreclosed. "It is really shocking and baffling that the appellants are supporting the tainted candidates. None of the three categories of the candidates mentioned in the orders of the Hon'ble Division Bench and the Hon'ble Supreme Court deserve any consideration. The argument that these candidates should have a level playing field on the basis of Article 16 of the Constitution of India is clearly not acceptable as it would militate against the basic notion of justice and fairness. It cannot be the fundamental policy of the state to encourage fraudsters in public employment. They have no place in the system," the HC held. The court went on to observe that a teacher was not only a mentor, facilitator and role model for a student, but also the guiding light of wisdom and gratitude. Referring to Beni Madhab Das, Surya Sen and other great teachers in history, the HC observed, "...it is really painful that the causes of candidates with tainted hands are now being defended for recruitment in the higher education system of the state. A teacher is said to be a fraudster when he secures a job by unfair means, which is completely inconceivable and unacceptable by any stretch of the imagination. A teacher not properly appointed with the required knowledge, skills, and values would be a disaster, ruining the education system. Knowledge, wisdom, and proper education are essential for the growth of the nation." "Fraud vitiates everything. Fraud and collusion vitiate the most solemn precedence in any civilised jurisprudence. Fraud and justice cannot dwell together. A litigant who is guilty of securing any benefit of public employment by unfair means and in collusion cannot seek a remedy under the writ jurisdiction, which is discretionary in nature, and the discretion must be exercised equitably and in promoting good faith," HC added.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Calcutta HC rejects govt appeal, bars ‘tainted' teachers from new exam
Kolkata: A division bench of the Calcutta high court on Thursday upheld the July 7 order of a single bench to bar identifiable tainted recruits from the 2016 panel — whose appointments were cancelled by the Supreme Court in April in the bribe-for-job case — from appearing for the fresh selection test for Bengal government school teachers, lawyers who attended the hearing said. The West Bengal government and the WBSSC had filed a petition before the division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De on Tuesday (Samir Jana/HT Photo) The West Bengal government and WBSSC filed a petition before the division bench of justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De on Tuesday after a single bench of justice Saugata Bhattacharyya on Monday ordered WBSSC to bar identifiable tainted recruits from the 2016 panel. The Supreme Court on April 3 cancelled the appointment of 25,752 school teachers and non-teaching staff (Group C and D) from the 2016 recruitment panel. On an appeal by the state, the top court on April 17 allowed non-tainted teachers to continue in service until December 31 but required them to appear for the fresh selection test. The notification for the test was published by WBSSC on May 30. However, it did not specify that only non-tainted teachers could appear for it. According to the WBSSC, 1,801 teachers recruited from the 2016 panel were identified as tainted during the investigation in the bribe-for-job case, and 188 of them figure among the 2,60,000 applicants for the upcoming selection test. The division bench said applications filed by the tainted teachers for the fresh test should be scrapped as ordered by the single bench. Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee, who appeared for WBSSC, argued that it was a violation of Article 20(2) of the Constitution, which protects citizens from being punished twice for the same offence. Banerjee said the alleged tainted teachers were being penalised a second time, as they had already lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order, and that the April 17 order did not specifically state that the tainted teachers could not appear for a fresh test. 'We have to obey the order. I cannot say anything against it right now. We repeatedly told the court that of the 0.26 million applicants for the fresh test, only 188 are identified as tainted,' Banerjee said. Senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who represented the untainted teachers, said, 'The division bench dismissed the petitions the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) filed challenging the single bench order.' Some shortlisted candidates from 2016, who also filed petitions before the bench of justice Bhattacharyya, alleged that WBSSC violated the 2016 recruitment rules by altering the weightage criteria for different components in the ongoing selection process. The commission has earmarked 10 marks each for 'prior teaching experience' and 'classroom demonstration'. This is a major deviation from the rules under which the 2016 tests were held, the petitioners said. The petitioners moved the bench of justice Bhattacharyya alleging that tainted teachers were being given an opportunity to get their jobs back. 'It is unfortunate that we had to put up arguments in court despite the Supreme Court specifically saying that only the untainted recruits can sit for the examination. The sole intention of TMC was to derail the Supreme Court's direction because it wants to shield corruption,' Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who is also a CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member, said. No TMC leader commented on Thursday's order till evening. Targeting the ruling party, Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, 'TMC has time and again used taxpayers' money on court cases so that it can protect the corrupt. It has lost each and every case.' The alleged corruption hit the headlines in May 2022 when the High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by WBSSC and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021, when TMC's Partha Chatterjee was education minister. The Enforcement Directorate, which started a parallel probe, arrested Chatterjee in July 2022. The ED filed charges against him, ex-primary education board president and legislator Manik Bhattacharya, and 52 others in January this year.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
Survivor and family ‘satisfied' with probe
1 2 3 Kolkata: The survivor's counsel on Thursday informed Calcutta High Court that the family was satisfied with Kolkata Police's probe in the law college gan-grape case. They, however, wanted to see the progress report in the ongoing probe. Multiple PILs have been filed seeking the court to order a court-monitored probe or transfer it to CBI. The survivor's counsel, during the last hearing, told the court that "she was getting all support from the SIT". The division bench of justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De allowed the family to see the progress report but were verbally asked not to share it with anyone else. The judge directed the state to serve the copy of the report to the survivor but warned that it cannot be divulged to any agency or media and is only for her information. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata Pursuing the court's direction, the state submitted the progress report in a sealed cover. The survivor's statement under section 164 of CrPC was also submitted before the division bench. The state was directed to submit a progress report on the probe after four weeks. The OC also submitted a report in response to the allegations of past police cases against prime accused Monojit Mishra (31). The HC directed the college and state to file their affidavits before the next hearing, which is July 17. Senior advocate Phiroze Edulji, representing the litigants, raised the question of violation of the accused persons' human rights as they were being taken to a correctional home with ropes around their waist 'like cats and dogs'. Survivor's counsel, Arindam Jana, stated that the accused was being represented by 50 advocates in lower court but no one has raised the question of rights violation.
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Law college rape survivor 'satisfied' with Kolkata Police probe, Calcutta HC told
A first-year law student who was gang-raped, allegedly by an alumnus and two senior students on college premises, is satisfied with the probe so far by the Kolkata Police, her lawyer told the Calcutta High Court on Thursday. Police personnel seen as South Calcutta Law College classes resume amid an ongoing investigation into an alleged gang rape incident, in Kolkata.(ANI) According to Bar and Bench, a High Court bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De was informed so by the gangrape survivor's lawyer during a hearing of a batch of petitions seeking an impartial probe in the case. The 24-year-old law student was gang-raped on June 25, and the case recently sparked huge uproar. Her lawyer's submissions to the High Court came amid demands for a probe by a central agency. A BJP fact-finding team recently raised suspicion on the Kolkata Police probe, alleging attempts being made to save the culprits. The four-member team had also alleged that the names of the accused provided by the survivor in a written complaint were erased and replaced with letters J, G, S, M. "When the police have tampered with the complaint itself, which is the basic document in the case, how can one hope that the victim and her family will get justice?" former Union minister and ex-Mumbai police chief Satya Pal Singh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The Kolkata Police's actions, like "tampering with the FIR and swift arrest of four accused", raise a big suspicion, he added. Four arrests have been made in the case so far, with Monojit Mishra, a former student of the college, being identified as the prime accused, and two senior students – Promit Mukherjee and Zaib Ahmed. Besides, security guard Pinaki Banerjee was also arrested after 'his replies were incoherent' during questioning. The student had alleged that she was raped by Mishra in the security guard's room in the ground floor of the college between 7:30pm and 10:50pm on June 25. During the hearing on Thursday, the Calcutta High Court ordered the Kolkata Police to file a fresh progress report in four weeks.
