On April 17, the Supreme Court of India allowed Assistant Teachers of Classes 9 to 12 in West Bengal, whose appointments were cancelled due to the 2016 recruitment scam, to continue in their posts if they were found to be untainted. This relief will remain in effect until fresh appointments are made.
"The interest of students should not suffer," observed the Court, justifying its decision to allow clean candidates to stay on temporarily.
However, the Court refused to extend the same relief to Group C and Group D employees, emphasizing that the number of tainted candidates in those categories was significantly higher.
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The Court made it clear that this permission is conditional. The State of West Bengal and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) must complete the fresh recruitment process for the Assistant Teacher positions by December 31, 2025.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar directed the State and WBSSC to issue recruitment advertisements by May 31, 2025.
"If the advertisement is not published by May 31, 2025, this order allowing untainted teachers to continue will be vacated," the Court cautioned.
The Court also ordered that the entire recruitment process, including examinations and selection, must be wrapped up by the December deadline.
Additionally, the State and WBSSC are required to submit an affidavit by May 31, 2025, showing that the advertisement has been published. Failure to comply will lead to the cancellation of the relief granted.
Background: The 2016 WBSSC Scam
This decision was given in response to a Miscellaneous Application in the case titled State of West Bengal vs Baishakhi Bhattacharyya. In this case, the Supreme Court had earlier upheld the cancellation of the 2016 SSC appointments due to widespread fraud.
The application requested the Court to allow those candidates not found guilty of any wrongdoing to continue until either the end of the academic year or the conclusion of the new recruitment process—whichever is earlier.
"Permit the appointees not found to be tainted to continue in service... until the process of fresh appointments... is concluded," read the plea.
Earlier, on April 3, the Supreme Court had supported the Calcutta High Court’s decision to cancel around 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff appointments made by the WBSSC in 2016.
"The selection process was vitiated by fraud and tainted beyond repair," the Court had observed while upholding the High Court's ruling.
The appointments were set aside en-bloc, and the Supreme Court confirmed that the entire recruitment was invalid due to serious irregularities and manipulation.
In this matter, Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Rakesh Dwivedi appeared for the State Government, while Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta represented the West Bengal School Service Commission.
Case Title: State of West Bengal vs. Baishakhi Bhattacharyya (Chatterjee)
Case Number: SLP(C) No. 009586 / 2024 and connected matters
