Why HC struck down 24000 appointments in Bengal

In a major blow to the Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court on Monday cancelled the appointment of nearly 24,000 teachers and other staff in West Bengal.
The court held recruitments made through the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST-2016) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools “null and void”.
The bench also directed the SSC to initiate a fresh recruitment process.
The court further ordered that those recruited illegally must return their drawn salaries within six weeks.

Terming the high court order as “illegal”, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “We stand by those who lost jobs. We will ensure you get justice, and challenge the order in a higher court [the Supreme Court].”
The recruitment panel chief Siddharth Majumder also said that the high court order would be challenged in the top court.

A 2016 recruitment scam?

In 2014, the West Bengal SSC introduced the SLST for teacher recruitment, which encountered legal issues due to irregularities and allegations of favouritism.
Candidates were appointed by the SSC in the categories of teachers of classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 and group C and D staffers through the State Level Selection Test-2016.
Another case emerged in 2016 involving the hiring of 13,000 Group-D employees.
It has been claimed that unauthorised appointments were made after the panel's expiration. Over 500 individuals allegedly received salaries unauthorisedly.

In 2021, the Calcutta High Court instituted the Justice Bag committee to assess Group C and Group D recruitments.
The committee found evidence of tampered OMR sheets. Subsequently, the high court ordered investigations by the CBI and ED.
In August 2022, the ED arrested former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and his associate Arpita Mukherjee in the case.
Several SSC officials, including TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, were also arrested.
The high court bench also directed the CBI to continue its investigation into the recruitment process and submit a report in three months. More here

Modi reiterates

Amid a raging row over his “infiltrators” remark, PM Modi reiterated his allegation at a rally in Aligarh, which has a sizable Muslim population, that the Congress is planning to redistribute people's property if it is voted to power, but without mentioning who it will go to.
“These people have their eyes on their ‘mangalsutras',” Modi alleged.
He also said, “The lives of a number of daughters were ruined due to triple talaq. We made a law against it and made the future of the daughters secure." More here

The previous remark

In Rajasthan on Sunday, PM Modi alleged that the Manmohan Singh government had said that Muslims have the first right on the country's wealth.
Modi alleged that the Congress’s 2024 manifesto talks about distributing the wealth of “mothers and sisters” among “those who have more children”.

What Modi said

At Rajasthan's Banswara, Modi said, “The Congress manifesto says they will calculate the gold with mothers and sisters, and then distribute that property.”
"Earlier, when they [Congress] were in power, they had said that Muslims have the first right on the country's assets. This means to whom will this property be distributed? It will be distributed among those who have more children. It will be distributed to the infiltrators.”

What Manmohan had said

At a National Development Council meeting in 2006, then PM Manmohan Singh said, "We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably in the fruits of development. They must have the first claim on our resources."

The row

The remarks have sparked a massive row, with many criticising PM Modi for using expressions such as "infiltrators" and “those who produce more children” for Muslims.
Accusing PM Modi of hate speech, Opposition parties have also urged the Election Commission to censure him.

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