A 14-year-old stay order on the recruitment of 292 Group D employees in Madrasas was vacated by Calcutta High Court on Wednesday.
Some of the applicants for the Group D jobs had petitioned the high court in March 2010, a month after the recruitment notice was published, alleging that the notification had relaxed certain criteria for the job to favour a section of the applicants.
The court had issued a stay order on the recruitment in August 2011 after it was informed that the West Bengal Madrasa Service Commission had prepared a panel of candidates to be recruited despite the high court still hearing arguments on the petition.
The bench that was hearing the petition then asked the Madrasa Service Commission not to proceed with the matter till further orders from the court, said Rajeev Verma,
a counsel for one of the petitioners.
For several years, the matter did not come up for hearing, said Verma.
“Last year, I found the matter listed for hearing by Justice Partha Sarathi Sen,” said Verma.
On Wednesday, Justice Sen passed the order.
“The bench has vacated the stay order. The West Bengal Madrasa Service Commission has been instructed to complete all recruitments within 21 days,” said Verma.
Verma said he was not sure how many of the petitioners or other applicants would be interested in taking the jobs after so many years. The petitioners used to follow up on the progress of the matter with Verma in the initial years. As time passed, the enquiries reduced and stopped at one point.
For the last several years, no one had enquired about the case, said a counsel for the petitioners.
The West Bengal Madrasa Service Commission had advertised the recruitment notice in 2010. The recruitment process had also started, but the notice for recruitment was soon challenged in the high court.
According to court officials, the administration decided earlier this year to dispose of matters that have been pending for several years.
The order was delayed because some other applicants filed a separate petition challenging the recruitment process. The two petitions were clubbed together.