Cancel jobs of 785 group C staff in schools: HC to SSC

THE CALCUTTA High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) to cancel the jobs of 785 people serving in Group C posts in schools of the state. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay also asked the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to cancel the jobs of 57 people who “got appointment letters without recommendation letters.”

The court directed that the recruitment process should be started from the waiting list within 10 days. Interestingly, Bristi Mukherjee — the daughter of a maternal cousin of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — is also on the waiting list. However, her father and Mamata’s cousin, Nihar Mukherjee, claimed that she resigned nearly two years ago.

Justice Gangopadhyay directed the SSC to issue a notification by noon on Saturday, cancelling the job recommendation letters of these 705 people.

However, no order has been issued regarding the refund of salary of these employees. The court will consider the matter later.

According to sources, Bristi Mukherjee hails from Kusumba village of Birbhum district and was appointed “illegally” as a group C employee.

However, her father and Trinamool Congress district committee member, Nihar Mukherjee claimed, “She [Bristi] was intelligent in her education. But after getting the job, she did not even join. She never took a salary either.” He claimed, “She is a burns patient and right now, is admitted at a hospital.”
Meanwhile, opposition parties hit out at the ruling TMC over the matter. CPI (M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “We have been saying that the Chief Minister’s family was involved in this scam. Now, the investigation has reached her family.”

BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said, “How shameless is this government? It seems clear that everything is linked to her [CM].” The TMC did not immediately react on the matter.