New Delhi, Apr 3 (UNI)The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the cancellation of the selection process for school teachers in West Bengal, ruling that even untainted candidates could not retain their appointments as it violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
Delivering its judgment on the State of West Bengal's challenge to the Calcutta High Court's ruling, the Supreme Court declared the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools null and void.
The Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, observed, “Manipulations and frauds on a large scale coupled with attempts to cover up have tainted the selection process beyond repair… the credibility and legitimacy of the selection are denuded.”
The Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s decision, reaffirming that appointments made through the tainted recruitment process could not be allowed to stand. The Bench stated, “We find no valid ground or reason to interfere with the directions of the High Court that services of tainted candidates must be terminated, and they will be required to refund any salaries they had received since the appointments are a result of fraud, which amounts to cheating. Therefore, we see no justification to alter this direction.”
Previously, the Court had classified the categories of the parties involved in matters related to the appointments of approximately 25,000 school teachers by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
The State of West Bengal had challenged the Calcutta High Court’s ruling, which declared the SLST-2016 recruitment process null and void and ordered the cancellation of all appointments made through it.
On July 16, 2024, a Bench comprising then-Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra had ordered, “No counter affidavit has been filed till date. In the event that any of the Respondents seek to file their counters, they shall do so.... If no counter is filed, the right to file a counter affidavit shall stand closed, and the proceedings shall be conducted on the basis of the record as it stands.”
Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the SLST-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. However, a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued, exceeding the declared vacancies. The Division Bench, formed by the Chief Justice of the High Court on a direction from the Supreme Court, extensively heard numerous petitions and appeals regarding the selection of candidates for appointments in classes 9, 10, 11, and 12 and Group C and D staffers through SLST-2016.
The Calcutta High Court had ordered the termination of multiple teaching and non-teaching staff members after identifying irregularities in the selection process. The High Court had directed, “All appointments granted in the selection processes involved, being violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, are declared null and void and cancelled… OMR sheets available in the three hard disks, if not already done or such portion not done, must be uploaded on the website of SSC forthwith and made available to the public for viewing… CBI will undertake further investigation in respect of all the four cases. CBI will interrogate all persons who had received appointments beyond the panel, after the expiry of the panel, and after submitting blank OMR sheets. If necessary, CBI shall undertake custodial interrogation in respect of each of them… SSC shall undertake a fresh selection process for the declared vacancies involved in these selection processes preferably within a fortnight from the date of declaration of results of the ensuing elections.”
The Supreme Court further held that even candidates not specifically found to be tainted could not retain their appointments, as the process itself violated Articles 14 and 16.
However, while their services would be terminated, they would not be required to refund the salaries they had received. The Bench clarified that its observations and findings would have no bearing on ongoing criminal proceedings.
The appeals filed by the State of West Bengal concerning the CBI investigation directive will be taken up for hearing on April 4, 2025.
UNI/SNG/ GNK