New Delhi, 8 April

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on 8 April wrote to President Droupadi Murmu. He asked her to ensure that candidates selected through fair means are allowed to continue as school teachers in West Bengal.

In a letter dated 7 April, Rahul Gandhi said that the delegation from the Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Mancha asked him to write to President Murmu and sought her intervention in the matter of thousands of qualified school teachers in West Bengal who have lost their jobs following the judiciary's cancellation of the teacher recruitment process.

"Both tainted and untainted teachers have lost their jobs. Any crime committed during recruitment should be condemned, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. However, treating teachers selected through fair means on par with tainted teachers is a serious injustice," Rahul Gandhi stated in the letter.

On Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee met with teachers who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court verdict and alleged that there is a "conspiracy" going on to destroy the education system. She further said that as long as she is alive, she is not going to let any deserving person lose their job.

Earlier, on April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court's decision to quash the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) in 2016 for the state-run and aided schools.

The bench of Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar found that the selection process carried out by the West Bengal SSC was based on large-scale manipulations and fraud.

The top court's verdict came on a petition filed by the West Bengal government challenging the April 2022 order of the Calcutta High Court which had cancelled the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and other staff for state-run and aided schools. The top court had reserved its verdict in the matter on 10 February.