The high court has declined to hear a contempt petition against the state education department in the school service commission recruitment case since it was pending in the Supreme Court.
“The matter is pending for disposal in the Supreme Court. We will not hear it,” said Justice Debangsu Basak, the senior judge on the division bench that also included Justice Raja Basu Choudhury.
The lawyers representing the state and the SSC have claimed that since the apex court had modified an order of Calcutta High Court, the bench did not have the jurisdiction to hear a contempt plea.
On April 3, the apex court upheld a 2024 Calcutta High Court order terminating the jobs of 25,753 school staff hired on the basis of a 2016 test.
The contempt plea alleged that the education department and the SSC had not uploaded OMR sheets and no steps were taken to get the salaries of tainted candidates back, as the court had ordered.