Calcutta HC judges differed on proceedings in teacher recruitment scam too, SC stepped in

NEW DELHI: The controversy arising out of the spat between two judges of the Calcutta high court is not confined to a hearing in the fake caste certificate scam as the judges also differed in court proceedings related to the teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal, and the Supreme Court had to step in.

While hearing a plea of candidates who were not selected and who sought disclosure of their breakup of marks and also publication of the panel of candidates in terms of primary school teachers recruitment rules, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said that publication of the panel should be done. He directed the production of a copy of the panel and passed the order even after it was brought to his notice that a division bench had already stayed the direction for publication of the panel.

"An interim order passed by a court in respect of one matter having one set of facts, cannot be used for another matter having different set of facts, specially, when it has been admitted by the board itself, a party, that panels have already been published by the board which has been quoted above," Justice Gangopadhyay said in his order.

That order was challenged before a division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Uday Kumar which set aside the single bench order and said, "However, the learned single-judge has not stated in the order distinguishing facts on the basis of which the aforesaid order could have been passed as in our order, we have clearly stated in paragraph 3 that the writ petitioners have to first establish their legal right as a duly qualified Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 candidates in order to get a relief whatever the nature of the proceeding may be."

The division bench order was challenged in SC. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan on Jan 25 stayed the single bench order.

SC had last year dismissed the plea of Trinamool Congress leader and former chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya challenging his arrest by Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in the teacher recruitment scam.

Select The Times of India as your preferred source on Google Search