The Supreme Court of India has invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in West Bengal's state-run and state-aided schools, deeming the selection process "vitiated and tainted." The court ordered the state government to conduct a fresh selection process within three months. The decision comes after a Calcutta High Court verdict in April 2024, which also annulled the appointments. The apex court, while upholding the high court's order, made some modifications, including exempting disabled employees from returning their salaries. The case stemmed from alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), involving OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping. The Supreme Court had previously termed it a "systemic fraud." Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being investigated in the recruitment scam.
'He is the God of Gods, the originator of yoga and the Vedas, the most powerful masculine figure who respects the feminine.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday pledged to protect the rights of 'eligible candidates' who lost their jobs after a recent Supreme Court verdict, evoking mixed responses from the affected teachers, thousands of whom turned up to hear the leader speak but remained dangling between hope and despair after she finished.
He also said that the police did not necessary action to prevent overcrowding at the venue.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an SIT investigation into the alleged torture of a woman in police custody following her arrest over protests against the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
Many ordinary citizens are drawn to by a sense of history and India's remarkable journey from bondage to freedom which culminated in this monumental building.
The two leaders had a complex relationship yet formed a partnership and even after their parting of ways, the two admired each other in their efforts for India's freedom.
'...still have lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but could have won 140 seats.'
The court also directed the state to pay a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the deceased doctor.
A Kolkata court will pronounce the sentence on Monday for Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death. The judge will also address questions raised by the victim's father and criticize some activities of the police and hospital authorities.
Maintaining that other persons were also involved in the crime, the parents of the victim have said that they expect that they will also be arrested and tried before the court.
Senior advocate Vrinda Grover will no longer be representing the family of the victim in the R G Kar Medical College rape-murder case. The trial court has been informed and Grover's chamber, including advocates Soutik Banerjee and Arjun Gooptu, are now discharged from the matter. The chamber had been representing the victim's family pro bono since September 2024, but "certain intervening factors and circumstances" have led to Grover's withdrawal. The case is currently being investigated by the CBI after the Calcutta High Court transferred it from the Kolkata Police.
The Calcutta high court has asked the State Election Commission to explore the possibility of postponing the civic polls to four municipal corporations by four to six weeks in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases in West Bengal.
The rallies were organised from R G Kar hospital, Sagore Dutta Hospital, SSKM Hospital, Calcutta Medical College, and Jadavpur in south Kolkata.
'Presumption of innocence must guide all formal actions, but transparency must not be mistaken for pre-judgment.' 'The cruel irony, however, is that Justice Varma is a fine judge who enjoys a reputation for writing well-reasoned judgments.'
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 25 per cent rise in net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the January-March quarter of 2024-25, owing to higher revenues and an exceptional gain. For the quarter under review, L&T posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,497.3 crore, while revenue rose 10.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 74,392.28 crore.
A division bench of the high court comprising Justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee, while hearing a public interest litigation, said that no visitors will be allowed to enter the marquees. For small pandals, barricades will have to be put up five metres from the entrance, while for the bigger ones, the distance has to be 10 metres, the court ordered.
The Storyteller has a lot to like and admire about it, observes Mayur Sanap.
The parents of the victim doctor in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case have alleged that the investigation is incomplete and several others involved in the crime are still at large. The court is set to deliver its verdict on Saturday, with Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, facing charges of committing the crime. The victim's parents expressed concerns about the presence of other individuals at the crime scene who remain unidentified. The CBI, which is investigating the case, has sought capital punishment for Roy, claiming he was the sole perpetrator.
The CBI, tasked by the Calcutta high court to probe the case, received local court approval to conduct a polygraph test on the accused, days after performing a psychoanalysis test on him.
Calcutta High Court ordered setting up of a committee which may recommend to the state a ban on entry to Sagar Island if there is any violation of health safety norms.
'Post COVID, people are much more enthusiastic about going to concerts.' 'The live music scenario has suddenly become very relevant to people's lives.' 'They see that it is cooked on the spot.'
The accused in the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case, Sanjay Roy, was brought to the Sealdah court on Monday. Kolkata Police, fearing he would make further controversial statements, kept blowing the horn of the vehicle carrying him, preventing journalists from hearing his voice. This comes after Roy made remarks against the former Kolkata police commissioner and claimed innocence during his previous court appearance. The trial, which is being heard in-camera on a day-to-day basis, continues with the testimony of three witnesses on Monday. The CBI is investigating the case following an order from the Calcutta High Court. The body of the on-duty doctor was discovered in the seminar room on August 9, sparking nationwide outrage and protests. Former principal Sandip Ghosh and former officer in-charge Abhijit Mondal, accused of tampering with evidence, had their judicial remand extended till December 2.
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Calcutta high court interim order restraining admissions under the 27 per cent Other Backward Classes quota in post-graduate courses, including in IIMs. The apex court said admissions in post-graduate courses in Central educational institutions will be provisional and will be subject to the outcome of the final order in the matter, pending before it.
The Calcutta high court has ordered breaking of locks of some hostel rooms of Visva Bharati University to facilitate students whose semester examinations are scheduled to commence from March 11.
The agency has slapped Section 120B of IPC (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 420 IPC (cheating and dishonesty) and Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (amended in 2018) which covers unlawful acceptance of gratification by a public servant.
'The security guards at the stadium did not recognise him. He kept saying he was Zakir Hussain but they did not permit him to enter.' 'Zakir bhai was calm and told me it is not their fault. They were doing their job.'
Eighty-seven days after the body of a woman medic was found at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a Kolkata court on Monday framed charges against the prime accused, Sanjay Roy.
On a day when both the West Bengal government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) moved the Calcutta high court for admission of their appeals seeking capital punishment for RG Kar hospital rape-murder convict Sanjay Roy, a counsel for the victim's parents claimed that the family does not want death penalty for him.
The anti-corruption unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation also searched the residences and offices of those engaged in supplying materials for the management and care of patients.
A group of lawyers on Friday vandalised the court of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Mohit S Shah to protest their forcible eviction by the police from a room in the court premises following a dispute over its allotment. The incident made an unpleasant last day for Justice Shah as the chief justice of the Calcutta HC before his shift to the Bombay high court. Some lawyers came in and vandalised the court room, breaking glass panes of the door and throwing around furniture.
As Kolkata marches towards modernity, it is hard to imagine its streets without these cabs, notes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
The Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta on Tuesday accepted the drastic fee cut proposed by the government.
Subhas Chandra Bose was under house arrest, yet he pulled out a daring escape from his Elgin Road residence in Calcutta to Germany via Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia...
The Sealdah court on Friday granted bail to former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal and R G Kar Medical College and Hospital ex-principal Sandip Ghosh in the rape and murder case of an on-duty doctor.
Former Indian tennis captain Anand Amritraj has criticized top players Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri for not playing in the Davis Cup, stating that money should not be a factor when representing the country.
Blessy's latest offering starring Dileep and Meera Jasmine is a departure from his usual style of stories that focus on the nuclear family. This film he claimed to be a combination of a love story and a thriller leaves you numb by the time it ends.
Standing at the edge of Dholavira is witnessing history textbooks crammed in school coming to life. One is suddenly standing face to face with a 4,000-year-old civilisational site that is now but a ruin.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday directed that a resolution by the special college council members of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital to suspend 57 medics/students will not be effected, until and unless a decision is arrived at by the West Bengal government in this regard.
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Friday filed a defamation case against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Calcutta high court, a day after she said that women complained to her saying that they were afraid to visit the Raj Bhavan because of the activities there, a source said.
