West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Wednesday filed a special leave petition (SLP) case in the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court order cancelling all appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff made after the recruitment test in 2016.

The state government has also filed a SLP in the apex court today against the HC order, it’s learnt.

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On Monday, the Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi in the HC had ordered cancellation of all the appointments of teachers, Group C and D employees made through the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in state government-sponsored and aided schools in the city and districts, declaring it as “null and void”.

The Bench also directed the SSC to initiate a fresh recruitment process.

The HC in its order had also said those appointed outside the officially available 24,640 vacancies, appointed after the expiry of the official date of recruitment, and those who submitted blank OMR sheets but obtained appointment to return all remunerations and benefits received by them with 12 per cent interest per annum within four weeks.

“It is shocking that, at the level of the state cabinet, a decision is taken to protect employment obtained fraudulently in a selection process conducted by SSC for state-funded schools, knowing fully well that such appointments were obtained beyond the panel and after expiry of the panel, at the bare minimum,” the HC had said.

It had said unless, “There is a deep connection between the persons perpetuating the fraud and the beneficiaries” with persons involved in the decision-making process, such action to create supernumerary posts to protect illegal appointments is “inconceivable”.

“The court has nullified about 24,000 jobs and we will approach the Supreme Court, challenging the verdict after going through the complete HC order,” Siddhartha Majumder, chairman of the WBSSC, had told reporters on Monday while reacting to the order of the HC.

“We will go through the 300-page order… discuss and understand the legal aspects,” Majumder had said during a press conference.

“There were allegations in connection with appointments of 5,000 candidates as per the CBI investigations.

Besides these 5,000 candidates, there are more than 19,000 teachers and non-teaching staff who are now jobless. Why did the HC scrap jobs of more than 19,000 candidates? We have moved the apex court after discussing the issue with the state government,” Mr Majumder said today.