WBSSC may face technical difficulties in detecting 'tainted' candidates seeking fresh recruitment

Kolkata, July 12 (IANS) West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) may confront technical difficulties in promptly detecting "tainted" candidates applying for the posts that fell vacant after the Supreme Court cancelled 25,753 school jobs in connection with the recruitment scam case.

Earlier this week, first a single-judge bench and then a division bench of the Calcutta High Court barred the identified "tainted" candidates from participating in the fresh recruitment process and also directed that the application from any such candidate should be rejected summarily.

However, the commission's sources said, prompt identification of such an applicant would only be possible if the candidate concerned applies under two new weightage criteria, prior teaching experience and lecture demonstration.

"If that candidate applies under the new weightage criteria category, we will be able to immediately check whether his or her name appears in the list of identified tainted candidates. Otherwise, identifying such candidates, though possible, will be a time-consuming exercise," the WBSSC sources said.

Already, a case is pending at the Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das, where these two new weightage criteria have been challenged. The crucial hearing in the matter is scheduled at the division bench on Monday.

The grounds on which these two new weightage criteria have been challenged are that the procedure to be followed in the fresh recruitment process should be the same as those followed in 2016, the entire panel of which was cancelled by the Supreme Court in April this year..

Meanwhile, WBSSC has decided to extend the last date for submission of applications for another seven days.

In the original notification, the last date for submission of the online application was July 14, which will be extended till July 21.

--IANS

src/svn