Bengal Education Department gets contempt notice as job-losing teachers attend schools

IANS April 12, 2025 234 views

The West Bengal Education Department is facing serious legal challenges after the Supreme Court's landmark verdict cancelling thousands of teaching jobs. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's controversial response, encouraging job-losing teachers to continue working, has triggered contempt of court notices against top education officials. The case highlights alleged corruption in job recruitment processes within the state's education system. Four senior bureaucrats have been served notices for allegedly violating the Supreme Court's clear directives.

"Everyone is bound by the Apex Court's order" - Siddhartha Datta, Advocate
Kolkata, April 12: Four senior bureaucrats attached to the West Bengal Education Department were served contempt of court notices for reportedly allowing a section of the teachers, who lost jobs after the Supreme Court's verdict, to attend the schools they were associated with.

Key Points

1

Supreme Court upholds cancellation of 25,753 teaching jobs

2

Mamata Banerjee urges teachers to continue attending schools

3

Four top bureaucrats served contempt notices

Last week, a division bench of the Supreme Court upheld an earlier order by the Calcutta High Court last year cancelling 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff on grounds that the state government and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) had failed in segregating the "genuine" candidates from the "tainted" ones who allegedly secured jobs against payment of money.

After that, at a meeting with a section of the job-losing teachers, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to them to continue attending their schools and offer voluntary services.

Even the updated salary portal for the teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run schools showed these job losers on the payroll.

The contempt of court notice to the four bureaucrats said that job-losing teachers attending their school is in direct violation of the Supreme Court order and hence tantamount to contempt of court.

The notices have been served to the Principal Secretary to the State School Education Department, Vinod Kumar, Commissioner of State School Education Arup Sengupta, WBSSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) president Ramanuj Gangopadhyay.

The notices have been served on behalf of five individuals, namely Babita Sarkar, Nasrin Khtaun, Laxmi Tunga, Setabuddin and Abdul Gani Ansari.

Earlier this week, a Delhi-based advocate, Siddhartha Datta, sent Chief Minister Banerjee a contempt of court notice over her recent comments on the verdict of the Supreme Court.

Dutta said: "Everyone is bound by the Apex Court's order, but the Chief Minister's recent comments indicate the state government will not implement the verdict."

Reader Comments

P
Priya M.
This is such a messy situation 😔 The teachers who got jobs fairly must be feeling so frustrated. The system needs complete overhaul to prevent these scams in the first place!
R
Rahul K.
While I sympathize with the teachers who lost jobs, the CM shouldn't encourage violating court orders. This sets a dangerous precedent for rule of law in the state.
S
Sanjay P.
The real victims here are the students whose education is getting disrupted year after year because of these recruitment scams. When will we prioritize children's futures?
A
Ananya D.
My cousin was one of the genuine candidates who didn't get selected because of this scam. She's devastated while the cheaters were working all these years. Justice delayed is justice denied.
M
Manoj T.
I think the article could have explained more about what happens next - will there be fresh recruitment? What about compensation for those who lost jobs? Important details missing.
N
Neha R.
The education department officials should have known better than to allow this. Now they're facing consequences for not following proper procedures. Hope this serves as a lesson!

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

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Tags:
West Bengal Education Mamata Banerjee Supreme Court Teacher Job Crisis WBSSC Education Corruption
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