‘Sympathy for tainted candidates will not work’, division bench slams SSC.
Sanchita Chatterjee BS News Agency, Kolkata:On Wednesday, the School Service Commission was again in the dock in the division bench of the Calcutta High Court in the teacher recruitment case. This time, the role of the School Service Commission was directly questioned. Today, Justice Soumen Sen of the division bench of the Calcutta High Court said during the hearing, ‘Why is SSC so sympathetic to tainted ineligible candidates?’ The judge also said, ‘SSC has become the spokesperson of ineligible candidates. This behavior is not desirable. What message is the commission trying to send by standing on behalf of those whose names have already been rejected on charges of corruption?’ The division bench of the Calcutta High Court observed, -‘The commission has recently approached the court again with a request to reinstate those whose recommendations were rejected earlier’. The judge expressed his anger over this. He said, "The job of the commission is to give opportunities to the deserving, not to advocate for the ineligible." The judge further said, "Is SSC forgetting that the court is monitoring the transparent recruitment process? There will be no sympathy for the tainted candidates." In April, the Supreme Court quashed the entire panel of 2016 on charges of corruption in recruitment. Transparent recruitment was ordered again. A case was filed in the High Court with the applications of those who were ineligible in that recruitment process. In that case, the single bench of the Calcutta High Court had earlier said, "Those identified as ineligible will not be able to apply for the new recruitment examination. And those who have applied, their applications will also have to be cancelled. The recruitment will be done as per the orders of the Supreme Court." The SSC went to the division bench challenging the verdict of the single bench of the High Court. Today, the commission argued in the state high court, "There was not enough information in the case of some candidates, so they should be given an opportunity." After that, the High Court reprimanded the School Service Commission. School Service Commission stands by identified ineligibles in the face of questions from the Division Bench. The single bench of the Calcutta High Court had said that the identified ineligibles would not be included in the new recruitment process. A case was filed challenging that ruling in the division bench. The commission also faced questions there. Justice Soumen Sen's question, "Is there a commission in a position to discuss the identified ineligibles? How is the commission being influenced by whether or not to participate in the recruitment of identified ineligibles?" Today, like the single bench, the School Service Commission stood by the identified ineligibles in the division bench as well. Lawyer Kalyan Banerjee argued on behalf of the commission in the High Court, saying, "Identified ineligibles will also be able to participate in the new recruitment process. If the identified ineligibles cannot participate in the recruitment, unsuccessful candidates will not be able to either." Then Justice Soumen Sen of the Calcutta High Court asked, "Has anyone participated in any recruitment process and been unsuccessful in it? Will they not be able to participate in any recruitment process in the future?" "According to the Supreme Court's observations, will those who have committed corruption and whose jobs have been cancelled due to fraud also be able to participate in this recruitment?" Justice Soumen Sen of the division bench counter-questioned the School Service Commission.