Advocate Anindya Mitra on Friday told the high court, “there was nothing wrong” if the school service commission (SSC) honoured teaching experience for in-service teachers in a fresh recruitment process.
He was representing the SSC at the court of Justice Amrita Sinha.
Mitra was countering the argument of advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, who challenged the commission’s decision to award up to 10 marks for teaching experience in the new process.
Bhattacharyya told the court that the additional marks were discriminatory and disadvantaged fresh aspirants, and the Supreme Court had not ordered such a step.
Mitra said: “Those untainted candidates who passed the examination successfully, their service had to be terminated because of the genesis of illegal practice.... Until the date of judgment by the Supreme Court, their service was valid.”
“Whatever teaching experience they gathered during the period of seven years before the cancellation, that was gathered while their appointment was considered to be valid by the Supreme Court... If that teaching experience is honoured (by the commission), there is nothing wrong there,” he added.
On April 3, the Supreme Court terminated the jobs of 17,209 secondary and higher secondary school teachers because the 2016 recruitments were “tainted beyond
redemption”.
The apex court later asked 15,403 untainted teachers to continue with salaries till December and take part in the fresh recruitment exercise to retain their jobs. The remaining 1,809 were barred from taking part in the selection exercise.
The in-service teachers who wrote the fresh selection tests are eligible for up to 10 marks for teaching experience, according to recruitment rules set by the SSC.
Bhattacharyya last week contended that teachers should be selected on a 90-mark scale to ensure a level playing field.
Mitra said: “The innocent parties should not be made to suffer.”