SSC moves Calcutta HC against 'no salary' order passed by single bench

Kolkata, Nov 26 The West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Friday moved the division bench of Calcutta High Court challenging the single bench order to withhold the salaries of 542 Group D employees, who were allegedly recruited after the cancellation of the concerned panel.

The matter is likely to be heard on Monday.

The single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had asked the School Service Commission to withhold the salaries of 542 employees, who were allegedly recruited after the cancellation of the panel. Gangopadhyay was hearing a petition regarding alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group D employees in the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE).

The commission said that the court didn't even allow it to file an affidavit in the matter, which prompted it to move the division bench. The commission had pleaded for hearing on Friday, but the division bench said that the hearing of this case will be taken up on Monday.

Earlier, the single bench of Gangopadhyay had ordered for a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities, following which the state government, the commission and the WBBSE moved the division bench against the order. The division bench stayed the inquiry till the completion of the hearing. That hearing is also scheduled on Monday.

In 2016, the state had recommended the recruitment of about 13,000 fourth class staff in different schools of the state, and accordingly the WBSSC conducted examinations and interviews periodically and a panel was formed.

The term of that panel ended in 2019. There was widespread allegation that the commission made lots of irregular recruitments - not less than 500 - even after the expiry of the panel. There were allegations that recruitments were made from the regional office of the commission.

A case was filed in the high court against the appointments of 25 of them, and it came up for hearing in the single bench of Justice Gangopadhyay on Tuesday.

Initially, the judge thought that there was confusion in the recommendation of those appointments.

"Enough is enough," he had told the commission.

"This means that the commission has no control over the regional office. I do not want another scandal," Gangopadhyay had said.