Is the New 'Weightage Criteria' in WBSSC Recruitment Justified?

Kolkata, July 11 (NationPress) A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court is set to hear an important petition on Monday that contests the newly implemented "weightage criteria" established by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in its recent announcement for recruiting teachers.

Numerous teaching positions in state-run schools remain unfilled following a Supreme Court ruling in April that nullified 25,753 job offers.

The Division Bench, comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das, has requested comprehensive documents from the commission regarding the recruitment regulations and the contentious "weightage criteria" outlined in the fresh recruitment notification.

On Monday, the state government will need to provide explanations to the Division Bench regarding the rationale behind the introduction of these new weightage criteria for the recruitment process.

Following the release of the recruitment notification by the WBSSC last month, it faced legal challenges at the Calcutta High Court's Single Judge Bench led by Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, based on two primary objections.

The first objection claims that the commission improperly permitted “tainted” candidates to partake in the new recruitment process, despite a Supreme Court directive in April that mandated their exclusion.

The second objection relates to two newly introduced "weightage criteria" that allocate 10 marks each for “prior teaching experience” and “lecture demonstration”.

The petitioners argue that the procedures for the fresh recruitment should mirror those from 2016, which were annulled by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

Last Monday, Justice Bhattacharya ruled that “tainted” candidates were to be excluded from the fresh selection process, but refrained from making any decisions regarding the new weightage criteria.

This led to two separate petitions being filed with the Division Bench comprising Justice Sen and Justice Das challenging the order from the Single-Judge Bench.

The first petition was initiated by the WBSSC against the ruling that barred “tainted” candidates from the new recruitment process.

The second petition came from the same group of petitioners who initially contested the fresh recruitment notification, arguing that the Single-Judge Bench's ruling was ineffective as it did not address the concerns raised about the new "weightage criteria".

On Thursday, Justice Sen and Justice Das upheld the Single-Judge Bench's ruling regarding the exclusion of tainted candidates from the recruitment process.

Consequently, on Monday, a hearing will be conducted concerning the petition that challenges the new weightage criteria.