Speaking at a public event, she vowed to support the “deserving” candidates whose jobs have been lost, questioning why West Bengal is being singled out when similar controversies in other states have not led to such harsh actions.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee strongly criticised the Supreme Court‘s recent decision to cancel over 25,000 teacher and school staff appointments made in 2016 by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
Speaking at a public event, she vowed to support the “deserving” candidates whose jobs have been lost, questioning why West Bengal is being singled out when similar controversies in other states have not led to such harsh actions.
Drawing comparisons with the all-India medical entrance exam NEET and the Vyapam scam in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Mamata Banerjee raised questions about fairness and justice.
She said:
“The Supreme Court must clarify who is deserving and who is not. Give us the list. No one has the right to break the education system. 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,” she stated.
Expressing her commitment to those affected, Mamata assured them of her continued support:
“If the Supreme Court provides us clarity, we will be grateful. If not, we will find a way and stand by you. Suffer for two months, you don’t have to suffer for 20 years. And I will compensate for those two months too. You won’t have to beg,” she said.
The Supreme Court cancelled the appointments due to massive irregularities in the recruitment process by the WBSSC. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar passed the judgment, stating that the entire selection process was deeply flawed and could not be salvaged.
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The Court observed:
“This is a case wherein the entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution.”
“Manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair and partial redemption. The credibility and legitimacy of the selection are denuded,” the order said.
The Court highlighted multiple violations and illegal actions carried out during the recruitment process. These included:
- Rank jumping: Candidates with lower merit ranks were appointed over higher-ranked candidates.
- Out-of-panel appointments: People who were not even shortlisted were appointed.
- Board-level interference: Candidates not recommended by the WBSSC were still appointed.
- OMR sheet manipulation: Scores were tampered with and original answer sheets were destroyed.
The Court remarked:
“The School Service Commission has been candid enough to admit; (i) rank jumping, that is, to say candidates having lower rank were preferred over those having higher rank, (ii) out of panel appointments, that is, candidates who are not in the panel of shortlisted candidates have been recommended and appointed, (iii) candidates who were not recommended by WBSSC were appointed by the Board, and (iv) manipulation of the OMR scores.”
On the destruction of OMR sheets, the Court was highly critical:
“No justification” was found for this action, it said.
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Further, the Court observed attempts to hide these illegalities:
“In spite of the factual background and the credible evidence indicating irregularities, WBSSC initially did try and cover up the lapses and illegalities. The cover-up itself has made the verification and ascertainment more difficult or rather impossible given the scale of camouflage and dressing up done at each stage. We are convinced that the entire selection process was intentionally compromised due to the illegalities involved.”
