Kolkata: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday put an interim stay on an earlier order for termination of the services of 32,000 primary teachers in different state-run schools in West Bengal on charges of irregularities in recruitments.
The division bench of Justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya put the interim stay on the earlier order by the single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay till September 23.
Initially, Justice Gangopadhyay ordered for termination of services of 36,000 primary teachers. Later, the figure was revised to 32,000.
Despite putting an interim stay on the termination part, the division bench directed the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) to continue with the process of interview for fresh recruitment as directed by Justice Gangopadhyay.
On May 12, while passing the order for termination of services of the primary teachers, Justice Gangoadhyay observed that they were not trained and they got the appointment without appearing for the mandatory aptitude tests.
However, WBBPE challenged that observation claiming that these primary teachers received post-job training in the open and distance learning (ODL) mode.
In his order, Justice Gangopadhyay had held Trinamool Congress legislator and former WBBPE President Manik Bhattacharya responsible for the irregularity and observed that if the WBBPE wants, it can recover the cost of the process of filling up the vacancies from Bhattacharya, who is currently in judicial custody because of his alleged involvement in the scam.
However, he directed that these primary teachers will be able to attend their respective schools for the next four months and during which they will be paid the salary of para-teachers instead of that for regular teachers.
If any candidate among these 36,000 completes the requisite training in the interim period, he/she will be eligible for appearing for examinations in the next recruitment phase, Justice Gangopadhyay had said.
