The Calcutta High Court on Monday declined to grant an urgent hearing to a petition challenging the latest recruitment notification issued by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). Justice Saugata Bhattacharya, presiding over the single bench, stated that the case would be taken up for hearing after the summer vacation in July.
The petition, moved by advocate Firdous Shamim on behalf of several job aspirants, alleged that the new notification carried discriminatory and objectionable provisions. The plea emphasised the urgency, pointing out that applications for the new recruitment process are set to begin from June 16. However, the court ruled that there is currently no need for an urgent hearing.
“The process of accepting applications should begin. If anything discriminatory is later found in the notification, the court will consider it,” Justice Bhattacharya observed.
The School Service Commission issued a fresh recruitment notification to fill over 40,000 teaching posts in classes IX–X and XI–XII. This comes in the wake of a significant development—the Supreme Court recently upheld an earlier Calcutta High Court order cancelling the 2016 SSC panel, which comprised 25,752 candidates. The apex court also directed that a new recruitment process be initiated before the start of the upcoming academic session.
In compliance, the SSC has not only released a new notification but also published revised recruitment rules. However, sections of job seekers have raised objections, leading to multiple legal challenges.
In contrast, Justice Bhattacharya agreed to an urgent hearing in a separate matter involving candidates who hold the D.El.Ed (Diploma in Elementary Education) degree from the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The case pertains to the 2022 recruitment notification issued by the Primary Education Council.
Although the Supreme Court has recognised the NIOS D.El.Ed qualification as valid, the state’s Primary Education Council initially did not validate these degrees. In its May 30 notification, the Council included only a few NIOS-qualified candidates—mainly those who had been part of the Supreme Court case—in the list of eligible applicants.
This selective inclusion has prompted backlash from other qualified candidates, with at least 80 job seekers filing a total of nine petitions in the Calcutta High Court. Justice Bhattacharya has scheduled the hearing on the matter for June 12, granting it urgency in view of the ongoing recruitment process.
As West Bengal’s education sector braces for a fresh recruitment drive under the shadow of judicial scrutiny, the legal contestations reflect the ongoing tensions over transparency, eligibility and fairness in public sector employment. While the SSC notification challenge awaits a full hearing post-vacation, the NIOS D.El.Ed issue is set to return to court within days, with hundreds of teaching aspirants hoping for swift relief.
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