"Not While I'm Alive": Mamata Banerjee On Top Court Order Sacking Teachers

Vowing to protect the jobs of 'deserving' teachers whose appointment was cancelled by a Supreme Court order, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today cited the example of the all-India medical entrance exam NEET and said the top court did not cancel the whole examination in that case.

"The Supreme Court must clarify who is deserving and who is not. Give us the list. No one has the right to break the education system. In the Vyapam case in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, so many people were killed. They have not got justice till today. In NEET, many allegations surfaced. The Supreme Court did not cancel the examination. Why is Bengal being targeted? We want to know. You are scared of Bengal's talent," she told a gathering of sacked teachers at Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium. 

"If the Supreme Court provides us clarity, we will be grateful. If not, we will find a way and stand by you. Suffer for two months, you don't have suffer for 20 years. And I will compensate for those two months too. You won't have to beg," she said.

The Supreme Court last week cancelled the appointments of more than 25,000 teachers and school staff recruited by the West Bengal School Service Commission in 2016 after large-scale irregularities were found in the recruitment process.

Citing legal precedents, the court said this is a case "wherein the entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution." "Manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair and partial redemption. The credibility and legitimacy of the selection are denuded," the bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said in its order.

The order noted that the School Service Commission "has been candid enough to admit; (i) rank jumping, that is, to say candidates having lower rank were preferred over those having higher rank, (ii) out of panel appointments, that is, candidates who are not in the panel of shortlisted candidates have been recommended and appointed, (iii) candidates who were not recommended by WBSSC were appointed by the Board, and (iv) manipulation of the OMR scores".

The court also noted that the School Service Commission had destroyed the OMR sheets and said there is "no justification" for this move.

"In spite of the factual background and the credible evidence indicating irregularities, WBSSC initially did try and cover up the lapses and illegalities. The cover up itself has made the verification and ascertainment more difficult or rather impossible given the scale of camouflage and dressing up done at each stage. We are convinced that the entire selection process was intentionally compromised due to the illegalities involved," it said.

The court said that candidates not found to be tainted won't need to refund salaries they received through the years, but their services will be terminated. 

Under fire, Mamata Banerjee has responded by accusing Opposition parties BJP and CPM of hatching a conspiracy aimed at the "collapse of the state education system". Targeting the rivals today, she said, "You have people everywhere. But don't snatch jobs from teachers to target me. Remember, an injured tiger is more dangerous. It's an attack on our government," she said.

"We have to accept the court's order, seek clarification and file a review petition too. You have not received a termination letter, so you keep working," she said, asking the teachers to continue working. 

Earlier, teachers at the gathering said they won't take an exam again to qualify for the job. "We will file a review petition and we will urge the West Bengal government and School Service Commission to file review petitions too," a teacher said.