WBSSC recruitment: State moves HC div bench against bar on tainted candidates

Kolkata: A day after the Calcutta High Court’s single bench barred tainted candidates from the new West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment, the state government challenged the order before a division bench.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharya had cited a Supreme Court ruling to reject the state’s plea that tainted candidates weren’t explicitly barred.

The state argued this violated Article 20(2) on double jeopardy. Petitioners also contested the bench’s refusal to alter recruitment rules, including removing the upper age limit and eligibility tweaks.

Revised rules give more weight to written tests (60 marks) and include new criteria like teaching experience and lecture demos. Candidates from the 2016 waiting list argue that these changes unfairly reduce their total score from 100 to 90, disadvantaging them.