Calcutta HC puts interim stay on publication of panel for primary teachers

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday put an interim stay on its single-judge bench’s order seeking publication of the panel of 42,000 primary teachers in different state-run schools.

The division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Uday Kumar on Monday had stayed the earlier order by the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha for four weeks.

Putting the interim stay, the division bench on Wednesday raised the question whether the two petitioners on whose petition the order for publication of panel was ordered had themselves qualified the teachers’ eligibility test (TET) or not.

The division bench directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a parallel probe in the multi-crore cash-for school job case, to submit a report on this by January 3.

The next date of hearing is scheduled on January 4.

Two phases of recruitment of primary teachers were done on the basis of the teachers’ eligibility test (TET) examination conducted in 2014, the first being in 2016 and the second in 2020.

On December 12, Justice Sinha directed the publication of two separate panels of recruitments in 2016 and 2020, but the state government had contended that there is no specific rule under which the panels can be published.

The West Bengal government had challenged the order before a division bench on December 18.

In her earlier order, Justice Sinha also observed that it was evident that the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) was trying to shield someone due to its reluctance to make the panels public.

–IANS

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