West Bengal: ‘Untainted’ Teachers Move Calcutta HC Over Police Harassment

Kolkata, July 5 – A group of ‘untainted’ teachers in West Bengal, who lost their jobs after a Supreme Court order canceled over 25,000 school jobs, approached the Calcutta High Court on Friday. They complained that Bidhannagar Police were harassing them, ignoring a previous court order.

These teachers, protesting near the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) office in Salt Lake, were earlier protected by a court order that barred any police action against them while the case is ongoing.

However, lawyers for Chinmay Mondal and Sangeeta Ghosh, two of the protesting teachers, told Justice Tirthankar Ghosh that police are still issuing them notices. The judge advised that the teachers can file petitions to cancel the notices, either individually or together.

The teachers also requested the court to cancel the FIR accusing them of ransacking the WBSSC office earlier this year. The judge said a formal plea must be submitted before a hearing can be scheduled.

The protesting group, Jogyo Shikshak-Shikshika Adhikar Mancha, announced a march to the State Secretariat (Nabanna) on July 14 to demand justice.

On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld a previous Calcutta High Court order that canceled 25,753 school appointments made through WBSSC due to corruption. The court said the selection panel must be scrapped since it failed to separate qualified (“untainted”) candidates from those involved in irregularities.

The West Bengal government and WBSSC have filed review petitions in the Supreme Court seeking a relook at the order.