WBBPE appeals against cancellation of appointment of 32,000 teachers
Times of India | 21 May 2025
Kolkata: In an appeal against the cancellation of the appointment of 32,000 candidates in primary schools, the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) on Tuesday told the Calcutta High Court that there was no case of corruption in the 2016 recruitment process.Senior advocate Kishore Datta represented the WBBPE in its appeal against the order of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on May 16, 2023. The next hearing is on June 12.Datta argued, "Corruption was alleged for the 2014 and 2020 recruitment processes. We are dealing with the 2016 recruitment process. The petitioners had claimed that TET 2014 was the biggest scam, and Rs 14-20 lakh was taken for a job. This has nothing to do with the recruitment process of 2016. With regards to corruption, everything is related to TET 2014."The petitioners, "untrained and unselected" candidates, said during the last hearing that even though they were placed similarly to many other "untrained" candidates who were selected, they were not considered by the Board. They alleged that no aptitude test took place.In his arguments, Datta questioned whether Justice Gangopadhyay could have directed the dismissal of appointments when the petitioners did not include such a prayer in their plea. "The court took it upon itself to act as the prosecutor. First is the bar to undertake this kind of probe, and secondly, at whose instance. The HC should have restricted the pleadings… My case is that the judge became the prosecutor."