Observing that the appointment process of civic police volunteers in West Bengal was “a sham with systematic malice”, the Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the State government to cancel all such appointments by the end of this year.
Passing an order on a batch of writ petitions filed by some unsuccessful candidates, Justice Sanjib Banerjee said there was “a systematic malice” in the recruitment process.
The recruitment process was “legally and morally a sham,” it said.
In two police stations of Bankura district -- Sarenga and Barikul -- where the irregularities were detected, the court said it is only the “tip of an iceberg”.
It ordered the government to immediately cancel all appointments in these two police station areas and for the rest of the selections, the deadline for cancelling appointments was December 31, 2016.
The High Court asked the government to form a three-member committee headed by the Finance Secretary to formulate fresh guidelines for the recruitment exam which will have 80 per cent objective questions and 20 per cent subjective.
The committee will submit its report to the State chief secretary after three months and the government can then make fresh appointments under new rules. The court had already stayed the recruitment process.
All documents related to the case will be kept in an archive of the court for future reference. - PTI
