Calcutta: Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, in High Court of Calcutta, asked for candidates illegally occupying teachers' jobs in West Bengal's state-run schools to voluntarily resign by Monday. Not a single resignation letter was recieved by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) thus far.
State education department sources said that till the closing time of the commission's office on Friday, November 4, no resignations were sent to the commission office, by post or email. Saturday and Sunday were observed as holidays by the commission. After the deadline expires, the commission's counsel will update the bench of Justice Gangopadhyay on the matter for the next hearing.
During court proceedings held in September, Justice Gangopadhyay issued an appeal towards those illegally appointed, asking them to voluntarily send in their resignation letters to the WBSSC office by November 7. The commission will consider those posts as vacant and inform the people of these via a notification.
The Justice said that no proceedings will be ordered or initiated against those who would voluntarily resign. However, those that fail to do so might attract consequences from the court, including a recommendation of barring them from all future government services for a certain period of time.
The former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, Trinamool Congress legislator and the former president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) Manik Bhattacharya, former president of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), Kalyanmoy Gangopadhyay and several other top officials of WBSSC are already under judicial custody because of their alleged involvement in the teachers' recruitment scam.
Last week, Justice Gangopadhyay's comment in the court created ripples in the circle as he said that at times, he wonders whether the real masterminds behind the teacher recruitment scam will be nabbed during his lifetime.
