“Tainted Beyond Repair”: Supreme Court Upholds Calcutta HC Ruling, Cancels 25,000 WBSSC Appointments

In a significant blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a decision by the Calcutta High Court to annul nearly 25,000 appointments made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016. The appointments, involving both teaching and non-teaching staff, were found to have been “marred by large-scale fraud and manipulation.”

A bench led by Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justice Sanjay Kumar, agreed with the Calcutta High Court's finding that the selection process was “irreparably tainted.” "Manipulation and fraud on a large scale, coupled with the intention to cover up, have tainted the selection process beyond repair. The legitimacy and credibility of the selection process are denuded," said the Supreme Court in its ruling.

The court found that the selection process was compromised at every stage, with irregularities such as rank manipulation, out-of-panel appointments, and the falsification of OMR scores. It also highlighted the role of supernumerary posts—additional positions created by the state government—which provided a backdoor for illegal appointments.

The Calcutta High Court had previously ruled that the new selection process should begin immediately after the conclusion of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Additionally, it instructed that anyone who had been appointed through fraudulent means must repay any salaries received, with interest, within four weeks. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was tasked with continuing its probe into the scandal.

The Supreme Court further clarified that while candidates not directly involved in the fraud would not be asked to return their salaries, their appointments would still be cancelled. "However, their services will be terminated. Furthermore, no candidate can be appointed once the entire examination process and results have been declared void," the court stated.

The ruling also dismissed the Mamata Banerjee government's appeal to differentiate between tainted and untainted candidates, noting that verifying such distinctions was practically impossible due to the extensive cover-up involved. "We are convinced that the entire selection process was intentionally compromised due to the illegalities involved," the court added.

The controversy stems from a selection test in 2016, where over 23 lakh candidates appeared for a state-level recruitment exam. While the number of available posts was only 24,640, the WBSSC issued 25,753 appointment letters. This discrepancy, allegedly facilitated by the creation of supernumerary posts, led to widespread claims of irregularities and illegal recruitment.

The scam has been a major embarrassment for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, with several high-ranking officials, including former education minister Partha Chatterjee, facing legal action. Chatterjee, a close aide to Mamata Banerjee, was arrested in connection with the case after large sums of cash were discovered at his residence.

Reacting to the ruling, senior BJP leader Amit Malviya described the verdict as a "crushing defeat" for Mamata Banerjee. He emphasised that the Chief Minister should be held accountable for the damage caused to the careers of thousands of young people in the state. "Mamata Banerjee’s close aide, Partha Chatterjee, who served as the Education Minister and was caught with wads of cash, is already in jail for his role in the scam," Malviya remarked, calling for the Chief Minister to face trial.

Despite the Supreme Court's ruling, Mamata Banerjee expressed her personal dissent, stating that she did not accept the judgment but would comply with it. "We will implement the Supreme Court’s decision and repeat the selection process. But I question whether the Opposition parties, the BJP and CPM, want to see Bengal's education system collapse. There’s clearly a conspiracy at play," Banerjee said in a statement shortly after the verdict.​