State School Service Commission recruitment scam: Apex Court defers hearing to January 15

Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred hearing of pleas challenging Calcutta High Court’s order cancelling recruitment of over 23,000 teaching and non-teaching staff related to the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan listed the case for hearing at 2 pm on January 15. The bench directed all parties in the case to submit affidavits by that day. Meanwhile, the Court also asked the CBI to submit its report by the day. The CJI is learnt to have said that the matter will be heard by a two-judge bench comprising him and Justice Kumar. The Calcutta High Court in April last year decided to cancel the entire recruitment panel formed through the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST) for the state government-sponsored and aided schools in Bengal, leading to multiple challenges at the Supreme Court. A division bench of the High Court found that the state government failed to distinguish between legitimate appointees and individuals who obtained jobs through unlawful means.

In December 2024, the Supreme Court had questioned why the state appointed teachers in supernumerary posts rather than identifying and removing persons who were appointed illegally. The apex court bench had questioned if at all the state had any intention of throwing out the illegally appointed candidates, knowing that irregularities were committed. “Why instead create supernumerary posts?” the bench had asked the Bengal counsel.

The apex court bench had also wondered why the original OMR sheets were not available, observing that the original paper is the OMR sheet which is the primary evidence. “If any manipulation is done on the main evidence or the main paper, it will be only visible in the OMR sheets,” court said.