The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list for urgent hearing a petition filed by a section of dismissed teachers seeking a review of the court’s April 3 judgment that sacked around 25,000 teaching and non-teaching employees of Bengal’s government-aided schools.
In its judgment, the court had called the entire recruitment process conducted by Bengal’s school service commission “vitiated and tainted beyond resolution”.
A bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran agreed to list the matter following a request from senior advocate Vikas Singh, who appeared for Sujit Gorai and other petitioners.
Singh sought an urgent listing as the State-Level Selection Test — to hire teachers for Classes IX through XII — is scheduled for September 7 and 14. The review is likely to be listed this week.
According to the review petition, the apex court’s April 3 judgment “suffers from multiple errors apparent on the face of the record, primarily in overlooking the overwhelming evidence on record demonstrating the feasibility of segregating tainted candidates from untainted ones... the blanket invalidation of the entire selection process, in the face of conclusive data enabling precise identification of malfeasance, is grossly disproportionate and violative of Articles 14 (equality), 16 (equality in matters of public employment), and 21 (life and personal liberty) of the Constitution of India”.
The review further states: “The judgment under review is also self-contradictory in its reasoning, as it simultaneously holds segregation to be impossible while granting selective relief to untainted candidates, thereby acknowledging the very feasibility it rejects.”