No recruitment happens in Bengal without paying money: Calcutta HC

Kolkata, Aug 16 (IANS) A single judge-bench of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday observed that West Bengal has become such a state where no one can secure or even retain a state government job without paying money.

Passing a verdict related to the termination of a primary teacher in a state-run school just four months after his appointment, Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay even referred to name of former president of West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) and Trinamool Congress legislator, Manik Bhattacharya in his observation.

"Probably, the litigant did not pay money to Manik Bhattacharya and so his employment was terminated. West Bengal has become such a state where no one can secure or even retain a state government job without paying money," Gangopadhyay observed.

To recall, following the order of Justice Gangopadhyay, Manik Bhattacharya was removed from his post of WBBPE president. Justice Gangopadhyay while ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in WBBPE recruitment in June this year also ordered removal of Bhattacharya from his chair.

This particular case on which Justice Gangopadhyay made such a strong observation relates to a litigation by one individual, Miraj Sheikh, who was appointed in December 2021 as a primary teacher in a state- run school in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

However, just four months after he joined the service, he was terminated by WBBPE citing that he did not have the qualifying marks of 45 per cent in graduation to be appointed in the reserved category as per the board's norms. Sheikh challenged the order and in support, he furnished his graduation certificate which showed his obtained marks as 46 per cent.

After hearing the arguments from both ends and satisfied by the documents placed by the litigant, Justice Gangopadhyay, on Tuesday ordered WBBPE to immediately reinstate the litigant as a primary teacher. Thereafter, he made the observation that no recruitment in West Bengal happens without paying money.

Trinamool Congress leaders have avoided making comments on Justice Gangopadhyay's observations.

However, the opposition claimed that the true picture of mass-scale corruption in West Bengal has been highlighted by the judge through his observation.