Kolkata, Mar 10, 2023, IANS

Kolkata, March 10 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered termination of services of 842 non-teaching staff in the Group C category who were allegedly provided appointments illegally against the monetary considerations in different state-run schools in West Bengal.

The single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court also directed the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) to issue separate notifications on the cancellation of recommendation letter and termination of services on this count by 12 p.m. on Saturday.

Justice Gangopadhyay also directed the commission and the board to ensure that no salaries are credited to Group C staff henceforth.

Justice Gangopadhyay's order on Friday comes following a submission by the WBSSC in court that of these 842 Group C staff, 785 secured appointments through tampering with the optical mark recognition sheets, while the remaining 57 got appointments without valid recommendations from the commission.

While passing the order, Justice Gangopadhyay observed that neither the commission nor the state education department could avoid taking the responsibility for such massive recruitment corruption.

"The fruits of this corruption have gone in favour of some influential people in the commission and the state education department," he observed.

He also directed the commission to start the process of filling up the vacant posts resulting from the termination from the waiting list within the next 10 days.