SC refuses to entertain WB's plea against HC order on maintainability of PIL alleging irregularities in teachers' recruitment

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea by the West Bengal government challenging the Calcutta High Court order rejecting the state's preliminary objection questioning the maintainability of a petition alleging irregularities in the recruitment of assistant teachers in primary schools on the basis of the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), 2014.

The petition in the high court alleged that in TET 2014, 42,897 candidates were stated to have been selected but no merit list was ever published disclosing the marks obtained either in the written test or interview and no reserved category-wise list was published.

An apex court bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka said it will not like to entertain the West Bengal government's plea against the July 12 last year order of the high court.

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The bench, which observed that it is open for the state to put forward its defence before the high court, said all questions of law are left open.

Before the high court, the state had raised a preliminary objection questioning the maintainability of the petition on the ground that the matter relates to the recruitment process of 2016-17 and there was delay in filing the public interest litigation (PIL).

The counsel appearing for the state argued in the top court that the PIL in a service matter was not maintainable and it has been filed after eight years of the TET.

He argued that another PIL on the issue was earlier dismissed by the high court.

"We would not like to entertain this SLP (Special Leave Petition)... It is open for the state to defend it there (HC). Needless to say that all questions of law are left open," the bench said.

The PIL filed in the high court had alleged irregularities and corruption in the recruitment of assistant teacher in primary schools of the state on the basis of TET 2014.

Opposing the state's preliminary objection raised before the high court, the counsel for the petitioner had claimed the appointments on the basis of TET 2014 were still going on and so there was no delay.

The high court had noted in its order that it was alleged before it that 42,897 candidates were appointed as assistant teachers without publishing any transparent merit list.

"That apart, it is also worth noting that the matter relates to the appointment of primary teachers and if persons without minimum prescribed eligibility conditions and lacking merit are appointed, then the interest of the primary school students, who are future of the nation, will suffer," it had noted.

"Thus, in the aforesaid circumstances, the preliminary objection raised by the state is rejected and the writ petition filed in public interest is held to be maintainable," the high court had said.