Calcutta High Court upholds ban on 2016 scam-accused candidates in teacher recruitment. Mamata Banerjee’s plea to allow them rejected, intensifying political storm.
Kolkata: Today, on July 10, the Calcutta High Court has confirmed that individuals accused of using dishonest methods to get government teaching jobs in 2016 cannot apply again in the new recruitment process ordered by the Supreme Court.
A division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das De, upheld the earlier decision made by Justice Saugata Bhattacharya on Monday.
The court clearly stated that those who were involved in fraud or unfair practices to get jobs in 2016 must not be allowed to take part in the fresh teacher recruitment.
The case concerns the large-scale teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal that took place in 2016.
Thousands of candidates allegedly used dishonest means such as submitting blank OMR sheets and were selected illegally.
These appointments were declared illegal by the court. The Supreme Court had earlier confirmed this decision and ordered that the recruitment process must begin again from scratch.
Despite this, the West Bengal government had supported the ‘tainted’ candidates and argued in court that they had already faced consequences and should not be stopped from earning their livelihood.
But the High Court disagreed with this argument and held firm that anyone involved in illegal recruitment must be kept out of the new process.
Back in April, the Supreme Court upheld an earlier order from the Calcutta High Court that had cancelled the entire 2016 selection process for teachers.
As a result, 25,753 people lost their jobs and were asked to return the salaries they had earned, with 12 percent interest.
The Supreme Court bench, which included Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, observed that the entire selection process was full of fraud and manipulation.
The top court noted there was no reason to interfere with the High Court’s decision and that the appointments had been made dishonestly.
The court also ordered a central agency to investigate the 2016 recruitment scam and asked the authorities to conduct a fresh and fair hiring process.
This cancellation of thousands of jobs triggered a major political fight in West Bengal. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have clashed over the issue.
Ms Banerjee, who is under political pressure with an important Assembly election coming up next year, promised to protect the jobs of those she said were “deserving” teachers.
She also claimed that Bengal was being unfairly targeted while similar scandals in BJP-ruled states were ignored. Addressing a gathering of dismissed teachers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, she said,
“In the Vyapam case in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, so many people were killed. They have not got justice till today. In NEET, many allegations surfaced. The Supreme Court did not cancel the examination. Why is Bengal being targeted? We want to know. You are scared of Bengal’s talent.”
After the Supreme Court order was upheld, many of the dismissed candidates protested in Kolkata. They demanded that they should not be asked to appear for the qualifying exams again.
These protests often became aggressive and even led to clashes with the police.
Eventually, by the end of May, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accepted the court’s order and said her government would follow it. She announced that 44,203 teaching positions would be filled in a fresh recruitment drive.
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She also said that the government would ease age-related eligibility rules for those who lost their jobs in 2016, so they could reapply.
However, many of the dismissed individuals remained unhappy. They refused to appear for the new exams and insisted on being reinstated.
They declared,
“We will not sit for a fresh exam. Our demand is clear…”
Background of the Case
The case traces back to the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST) conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) for recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in government-run and government-aided schools.
After the recruitment process was completed, several complaints began surfacing, alleging large-scale irregularities, bribery, and favoritism in the appointment of thousands of candidates.
Whistleblowers and aggrieved candidates alleged that jobs were sold in exchange for money and that many “undeserving” individuals were appointed by manipulating marks, answer sheets, and merit lists.
These allegations led to multiple public interest litigations being filed in the Calcutta High Court demanding an investigation.
The court later ordered a probe, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was brought in. During the investigation, it was discovered that widespread corruption had taken place in the recruitment process, involving senior officials, politicians, and middlemen.
Several high-profile arrests were made, including that of former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.
In response, the Calcutta High Court cancelled the appointments of 25,753 candidates, stating that the entire process had been compromised.
The order affected both Group-C and Group-D staff, as well as assistant teachers appointed through the tainted panel.
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