Calcutta HC upholds single bench order barring tainted candidates from applying for school jobs

KOLKATA: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday upheld its single bench order directing the West Bengal School Service Commission to debar the identified ‘tainted’ candidates of the 2016 selection process from participating in the 2025 recruitment procedure, which the SSC has recently notified.

The single bench of Justice Sougata Bhattacharya had also ordered on Monday that if any such tainted candidate is found to have already applied for the job, the SSC shall consider such application deemed to be cancelled. Challenging the single bench order, the West Bengal government and the SSC had moved the division bench which rejected their appeal and refused to interfere with the previous court direction.

During the hearing of the appeal on Tuesday, the division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De had questioned the state and the SSC on why they were so keen on standing with the ‘identified-as-tainted’ and ‘illegible’ candidates of the 2016 panel who secured appointments through fraudulent means.

“Can the School Service Commission defend the cause of candidates who were labelled as tainted by the Supreme Court in the recruitment scam?” the court had asked.

SC scrapped entire panel

The Supreme Court had scrapped the entire panel on the grounds of large-scale corruption that had "tainted and vitiated" the selection process beyond redemption. The apex court order, passed on April 3 this year and, subsequently, modified on April 17, annulled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non teaching staff , but allowed the ‘identified-as-not-tainted’ teachers to carry on working till the fresh selection for the vacant positions was completed within the deadline of the end of the current year.

A section of aggrieved teachers had moved the high court challenging the SSC’s 2025 recruitment guidelines, that allowed ‘tainted’ teachers to apply afresh and, even awarded an additional 10 marks of maximum weightage on previous work experience.

Arguing before the division bench, Advocate General Kishor Dutta submitted that nowhere in the Supreme Court order was it specifically stated that ‘tainted’ teachers are prohibited from participating in recruitment processes in future. The SSC informed the court that of the 2.6 lakh fresh applicants, it has so far received applications from only 188 ‘tainted’ candidates .. In all, the commission has identified 1801 such candidates.

New guidelines for ineligible candidates

Both the state and the SSC argued that the new guidelines allowing ineligible candidates to take the tests afresh was made in public interest so that equal opportunities are made available to all. Appearing on behalf of the commission, TMC leader and senior advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay submitted that disallowing the candidates, who have already lost their jobs, from participating in the new selection process would mean they would be punished twice for an alleged crime they have committed once.

Appearing for one of the respondents, senior advocate and CPI(M) leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya argued before the division bench that neither the state, nor the commission had spoken in favour of the ‘tainted’ teachers before Supreme Court when it directed that no additional benefits be given to those who indulged in fraudulent and corrupt practices to secure appointments.

Yet, Bhattacharya submitted, the two have taken a different stand on that matter when it came to issuing notifications for the new selection process or while arguing the matter before the high court. “I fail to understand how the Supreme Court and subsequent high court directions hurt the interests of the state government that it preferred this appeal before the division bench,” said Firdaus Shamim, one of the lawyers for the petitioning teachers.