Calcutta High Court Upholds Exclusion of 'Tainted' Candidates from Teaching Recruitment

Court Ruling on Teaching Posts in West Bengal

Kolkata: On Thursday, the Calcutta High Court reaffirmed a previous ruling made by a Single-Judge Bench, which mandated the exclusion of 'tainted' candidates from the new selection process initiated by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). This decision follows a Supreme Court ruling in April that annulled 25,753 teaching positions.

Earlier this week, Justice Saugata Bhattacharya of the Single-Judge Bench emphasized that those already classified as 'tainted' must not be allowed to participate in the new recruitment process.

He further stated that any applications submitted by these 'tainted' candidates for the new recruitment should be outright rejected.

In response, the state government and WBSSC appealed to the Division Bench, comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das, contesting the exclusion of these identified candidates.

However, on Thursday, the Division Bench upheld the earlier ruling, reinforcing the decision to bar 'tainted' candidates from the recruitment process.

The court dismissed arguments from the state government that preventing these candidates from participating would constitute a double penalty.

Senior advocate and CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya commented that the Division Bench's decision thwarted the state government's attempts to favor the identified 'tainted' candidates.

He noted, “This outcome was expected. The Supreme Court's April ruling not only annulled the jobs but also explicitly prohibited 'tainted' candidates from the new selection process. Yet, the state government sought to include them.”