Kolkata, 17 December (H.S.) : The Calcutta High Court has dealt a major blow to the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) by cancelling 317 teacher appointments made in the hill areas, holding that the entire recruitment process was illegal and contrary to law.

Delivering the judgment on Wednesday, Justice Biswajit Basu observed that the appointments were made in complete violation of statutory provisions and could not be sustained. The court held that what was projected as regularisation was, in reality, a fresh recruitment carried out unlawfully.

During the hearing, the court noted that a proposal for regularisation of teachers was placed by Roshan Giri in a meeting of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, but the state government had clearly objected to the move. Despite this objection, the appointments were proceeded with, bringing them under legal scrutiny.

The GTA argued that due to the prevailing political situation at the time, regular recruitment could not be conducted. However, the court rejected this contention outright, accepting the petitioners’ argument that appointments were made in other departments during the same period, thereby disproving the claim that recruitment was impossible.

Justice Basu further remarked that appointments made in the name of regularisation amounted to fresh recruitment, which is impermissible under law. The court made it clear that regularisation cannot be used as a mechanism to bypass established recruitment rules.

The GTA also claimed that the appointments were made in private schools. The court dismissed this argument as well, referring to Section 73 of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act and holding that the schools in question function under statutory provisions and fall within the control of the state government.

Along with cancelling the appointments, the High Court directed that the ongoing investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) should continue. Allegations of corruption in teacher recruitment in GTA-controlled areas had surfaced following a complaint by the state School Education Department.

An FIR had earlier been registered at Bidhannagar North police station in connection with the matter. Based on the complaint, a single bench of the High Court had initially ordered a CBI investigation. The state government subsequently challenged this order before a division bench.

On April 19, 2024, a division bench comprising Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Madhuresh Prasad upheld the CBI probe. However, the Supreme Court later observed that the High Court had acted in haste while ordering the CBI investigation and set aside that order.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh