Calcutta HC Expels 573 In SSC Recruitment ‘Scam’

The Calcutta High Court has ordered the dismissal of 573 people in a case of massive alleged corruption in Group D recruitment by the School Service Commission (SSC). Questions have been raised on whose recommendation the appointments were made. In the case, the court had earlier ordered to stop the salaries of 573 people. This time, the Calcutta High Court ordered the dismissal of 573 people. There have been several allegations of corruption against the School Service Commission in the past. However, the court has never ordered the dismissal of so many people at once. In addition to the dismissal, these 573 people have been instructed to return the salary they have received so far. The court had constituted a special committee to investigate the corruption. It has been directed to submit a report on 14 February after looking into how the corruption took place, whether the recruitment was done in exchange for money, and who was involved in it.

The case was heard by a bench of Justice Abhijit Ganguly in the High Court on Wednesday. Earlier, a bench headed by Abhijit Ganguly had directed a CBI probe into the appointments. Later, the School Service Commission went to the division bench, challenging that instruction. Though the CBI probe order was rejected there, the court formed a committee to investigate. Retired Justice R.K. Bug headed that committee. On the same day, the judge said, “There has been skyrocketing corruption in the recruitment of fourth class workers in the state.”

The Group D recruitment notification was issued in the state in 2016; 13,000 were recruited. The Group D panel expired in May 2019. Even then, allegations were made against SSC that more than one appointment had been made. It is learned that 25 people had been recommended for recruitment. That information came into the hands of the High Court. The High Court wants an explanation as to how appointments were made from the expired list. A single bench of the High Court had directed the CBI to probe the case. Later it was rejected.

The Board of Higher Secondary Education is the “Appointing Body” for the appointments, and the Commission is the “Recruitment Body”. The board informed the court that they made the appointments as per the recommendation of the commission. The conflict between the two government offices over the appointments have come to light in this case