- In the case of Md. Abdul Gani Ansari vs State of West Bengal and ors Justice Abhijeet Gangopadhyay of the Calcutta HC has made scathing remarks against the order of the Division Bench of the Calcutta HC. The case pertained to alleged irregularities in the appointment of the Group-D non-teaching staff in sponsored Secondary and Higher Secondary schools under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) on the recommendation of the West Bengal School Secondary Commission (WBSSC).
- In 2016, the State Government had recommended the appointment of 13,000 non-teaching staff in different government-aided schools. The WBSSC had conducted examinations and interviews and a panel was constituted. However the said panel’s term had ended in 2019. There were serious allegations that the Commission had made several irregular recruitments after the dissolution of the panel, the number of which could be close to 500.
- On 25 March, Justice Gangopadhyay had directed Mr. SP Sinha, the former Advisor of the SSC and the Governor of the Committee constituted by the Education Department to disclose the details of his assets in an affidavit after suspecting corruption during the recruitment of staff by SSC in the recent years.
- Appeal had been filed against this order before a Division Bench of the HC, requesting for a stay of the order. Although the bench did not stay the order and directed Sinha to file the affidavit, but the Bench said that the affidavit of the assets should be filed in a seal cover and should not be divulged to the litigating parties or their Counsels, essentially tying the Court’s hands.
- While recording his serious displeasure, the Hon’ble Judge observed that it doesn’t know what the Court will do with a sealed cover in the proceedings when the hands of the Court have been tied by the Division Bench’s observation. It was also observed that the highest degree of double standard has been expressed by the Appellate Court for reasons only known to it.
- It is curious that this development comes after a series of orders issued by Justice Gangopadhyay have been stayed or quashed by the Division Bench of the Calcutta HC regarding the recruitment scam. The Division Bench had earlier quashed Justice Gangopadhyay’s order which had directed the CBI to conduct the investigation into the alleged recruitment scam.
- The Court further observed that it would not be able to deal with the contents of the sealed cover containing the affidavit of assets, because other steps also needed to be taken but the Court has been prevented from doing so.
- The Hon’ble Single Judge has also wondered who would be benefited by the tying up of the Court’s hands when it had been made clear that there are serious allegations of illegalities in giving recommendations to the ineligible candidates. It was also observed that in relation to the illegal appointments, the Division Bench had held that they were a ‘perceived notion’, when the illegal appointments are hard facts which had come to the notice of the Single Judge.
- It may also be noted that recently, the Hon’ble CJI had expressed his displeasure regarding the practice of submission of documents before the Court in sealed covers, without sharing copies with the opposing side, and the Court relying on those documents to render justice.
- It is also noteworthy that in the Media One Channel case, a three judge bench of the Apex Court had expressed its intention to examine the issue relating to the validity of relying upon the documents submitted in the Courts in sealed covers.
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