New Delhi [India], April 17: The Supreme Court has allowed teachers, whose appointments were found to be “untainted” despite irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process, to continue their services until a fresh selection is completed. The relief, however, does not extend to teaching staff in Groups C and D, where the court found a larger number of “tainted” appointments.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna directed the West Bengal government and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to advertise fresh recruitment for assistant teachers by May 31 and complete the entire hiring process by December 31, 2025.
The court emphasized that the students’ education must not suffer due to the cancellation of appointments, even as it upheld the findings of irregularities in the earlier recruitment process.
The fallout from the flawed 2016 recruitment has been significant. On April 11, affected teachers staged a ‘dharna’ protest outside the SSC office in Kolkata. Around 26,000 teaching staff have lost their jobs following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Calcutta High Court’s order canceling their appointments.
In response to the growing unrest, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) also held protests, criticizing the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government’s handling of the recruitment scam.
Earlier on April 7, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with dismissed teachers and alleged a “conspiracy” aimed at dismantling the state’s education system. She vowed to protect deserving individuals, saying, “As long as I’m alive, I will not allow any deserving person to lose their job.”