In a major setback for the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on April 3 upheld the Calcutta High Court’s decision to cancel the recruitment of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff appointed in 2016 by the School Service Commission (SSC) for state-funded schools.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna ruled, “We find no valid ground or reason to interfere with the decision of the High Court that services of tainted candidates must be terminated.”
The Calcutta High Court had previously found widespread irregularities in the recruitment process, including OMR sheet tampering and rank manipulation, leading to the cancellation of 25,753 appointments in state-run and state-aided schools.
In February, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict after hearing arguments on multiple petitions challenging the Calcutta HC’s April 22, 2024 ruling. A total of 124 petitions were filed, including one by the West Bengal government, seeking to overturn the cancellation.
Several senior advocates, including Mukul Rohatgi, Ranjit Kumar, Abhishek Singhvi, Dushyant Dave, and Prashant Bhushan, argued on behalf of different parties in the high-profile case.
With the Supreme Court’s decision, the affected employees face termination, and the state government may have to initiate a fresh recruitment process to fill the vacancies.
