SC junks Bengal Govt’s review plea against cancelling 25,753 school appointments

The Supreme Court held that the Bengal government’s review pleas could not be entertained since all relevant aspects have already been examined and considered comprehensively

The Supreme Court has dismissed a batch of review petitions filed by the West Bengal government, the state school service commission and others challenging its April 3 ruling that annulled the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staff in state-run and aided schools.

The Supreme Court of India. (File)

A bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma, in its August 5 order made public on Tuesday, held that the review pleas amounted to a re-hearing on merits and could not be entertained since “all relevant aspects have already been examined and considered comprehensively.”

“The judgment dated 3rd April, 2025, was passed after hearing extensive and exhaustive arguments and upon considering all aspects, factual and legal,” the bench recorded. It reiterated that findings of the Justice (Retd) Bag Committee, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and admissions by service commission and the West Bengal board of secondary education established “illegalities in the selection process” and attempts at a “cover-up of lapses.”

The court emphasised that the WBSSC’s failure to preserve original OMR sheets or even their mirror copies “was a significant factor” that weighed against it, making verification of candidates’ merit “more difficult, if not impossible.” The attempt to camouflage irregularities convinced the bench that the entire 2016 recruitment exercise stood compromised, leaving invalidation as the only way to “maintain the sanctity of the process.”

The review petitions arose from the Supreme Court’s April 3 judgment which had set aside the entire 2016 selection process of assistant teachers and groups C and D staff. A bench led by then CJI Sanjiv Khanna had found the recruitment “vitiated and tainted beyond resolution” after uncovering “manipulations and frauds on a large scale” and “cover-ups at each stage.”

The Calcutta high court had earlier annulled the appointments in April 2024 based on a CBI probe that exposed blank OMR sheets, manipulated answer scripts and candidates who were neither in the merit list nor waitlisted making it to the selection roll. Despite the Board recommending 22,930 candidates, the school service commission issued 25,735 appointment letters.

The apex court, in its judgment, noted the commission’s contradictory claims regarding possession of scanned OMR sheets, calling them a deliberate attempt to conceal data. It also found that marks of candidates were withheld until directed by the high court, suggesting “likely manipulation.”

The court, while nullifying all appointments, had at the time carved out limited reliefs, which included allowing untainted candidates to re-apply in fresh recruitment with age relaxation, though their services were terminated. Those previously employed in government service were also allowed to seek reappointment in their old departments without break in service. The top court, however, upheld recovery of salaries from tainted candidates, terming their appointments products of “fraud” and “cheating.”

Following the state government’s argument that the widespread firings had negatively affected school education, the court in April extended the services of the terminated teachers -- those who had been cleared by CBI, until December 31.

Meanwhile, the CBI’s ongoing probe into the recruitment scam has already seen arrests of senior Trinamool Congress leaders, including former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, with allegations that jobs were sold for money.