The Supreme Court, on April 3, upheld the 2024 Calcutta High Court order that cancelled the jobs of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff, calling the entire selection process “vitiated and tainted.”
KOLKATA: Around 500 deserving teachers, who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court cancelled over 26,000 appointments made through the 2016 SSC recruitment process, held a protest rally in Kolkata on Thursday. These teachers said they should not be treated like those who got jobs by cheating or through corruption.
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The Supreme Court, on April 3, had upheld the 2024 Calcutta High Court order that cancelled the jobs of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff, calling the entire selection process “vitiated and tainted.”
These teachers, who are now unemployed, said they are victims of the School Service Commission’s (SSC) failure to separate genuine candidates from the dishonest ones.
Mehboob Mondal, a representative of the protesting group called ‘Jogyo Sikshak Manch’ (Eligible Teachers Forum), told media:
“We hit the streets to voice the demands of deserving teachers that they should not be penalised for the failure of the School Service Commission (SSC) to differentiate between the deserving and tainted candidates who sat for the recruitment tests in 2016 and got appointment letters.”
Mr Mondal said the teachers had gone to hand over a deputation letter to the District Inspector of Education, but they were met with police force:
“We were lathi-charged by police for handing over a deputation to the office of District Inspector of Education in the city and kicked by a police officer. We can’t even protest democratically against the snatching of our jobs due to large-scale corruption by the state government. So where should we go now? We are on the roads finding no other alternative,” Mr Mondal alleged.
When asked if their group would join the relay hunger strike being held by another set of eligible teachers near the SSC office, Mr Mondal replied:
“We will decide after this programme. If they (fasting teachers) are also eligible, we will be with them. Let us find out,”
He also made it clear that their forum is not linked with the teachers who are holding a sit-in protest at Sahid Minar, but said:
“We will support the legitimate demand of any deserving candidate.”
Two protest rallies took place in Kolkata on Thursday. One started from Sealdah and the other from Central Avenue, both ending at Esplanade, covering more than 2 km. A large number of police personnel were deployed to keep things under control.
The protesters walked peacefully, holding placards like:
- “We want back our job”
- “SSC should come out with the list of tainted/untainted candidates”
There were no violent incidents during the rallies, and the teachers expressed their pain and frustration while demanding justice.
Supreme Court Judgement
Recently, the Supreme Court agreed with a Calcutta High Court decision that cancelled the appointments of more than 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff selected by the SSC in 2016. The court found that the recruitment process had been affected by “manipulation and fraud”.
A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and also comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar has directed the West Bengal government to initiate a fresh recruitment process within three months, after finding that the 2016 SSC recruitment was tainted by large-scale irregularities.
The apex court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s decision to scrap the previous appointments, citing corruption and procedural lapses.
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Key Takeaways from the Supreme Court Judgment:
- The top court declared that all 25,753 (rounded to 26,000) jobs awarded under the 2016 SSC panel are cancelled, calling the recruitment process “rigged.”
- A fresh recruitment must be conducted within three months, and eligible candidates from the cancelled panel may apply again.
- Those who had left previous government jobs to join through the 2016 panel may return to their old posts if they choose.
- The bench noted that due to missing OMR sheets and answer scripts, it was impossible to distinguish deserving candidates from those who obtained jobs fraudulently.
- The 2016 recruitment was marred by serious allegations of bribery, manipulated ranks, and illegal appointments. Probes revealed shocking cases where candidates submitted blank answer sheets but were still selected.
- The Calcutta High Court had annulled the entire recruitment process in its April 2024 ruling and ordered that terminated employees return their salaries with 12% interest.
- Both the West Bengal government and affected candidates challenged this verdict in the Supreme Court. Although the apex court had stayed the High Court’s order in May 2023, it ultimately agreed with the findings after hearings concluded in February 2024. The court placed strong reliance on the CBI’s evidence of corruption.
Although the court did mention that some teachers were selected fairly, the cancellation order applied to everyone—both those selected through “fair means” and those who got the job through “unfair means”.
Background
The 2016 SSC recruitment process was found to be full of irregularities and corruption, leading to a major investigation. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested several people, including former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and other SSC officials.
Due to this large-scale scam, even eligible candidates lost their jobs as the entire recruitment was declared invalid.
