Allegations of corruption in the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in the state’s primary and higher education departments had been raised earlier. This time there were allegations of corruption in the appointment of the fire department. Based on this allegation, the Calcutta High Court issued an interim stay on the appointment of 1500 posts in the fire department.
In 2018, the state issued a notification for the recruitment of one and a half thousand fire operators in the fire department. The written test was done in 2019. The problem arose when the result was published. The complaint was that the test had the wrong questions. Even if there was a player quota or firefighting training certificate that matched the extra number or reserve, it was not given. It is even alleged that the job seekers have been given jobs in the scheduled quota.
Initially, the job seekers approached the SAT with all these allegations. There that the appeal was dismissed. Then they approached the Calcutta High Court. The case was heard on Monday in the division bench of Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Shampa Dutt Pal of the Calcutta High Court. Following the hearing, the Calcutta High Court issued a one-week interim stay on the appointment. The suspension will continue till next Tuesday. The next hearing of the case is on Monday. The court’s decision to fill the 1,500 vacancies in the fire department is currently uncertain.
It is to be noted that recently there have been allegations of corruption in the appointment of the state’s primary and higher education departments. The CBI is investigating the court order. The court is keeping a close eye on that investigation. A moratorium has also been issued on recruitment. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had spoken about this a few days ago. His regret, ‘How do I recruit? It is not possible to make an appointment without the permission of the court. I have always said that the decision of the court must be followed in all cases’. This time the appointment in the fire department was also stopped by the court order.
