WB SSC scam: SC rejects pleas seeking review of verdict quashing teachers, staffers' appointment

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) The Supreme Court has dismissed the West Bengal government's plea seeking review of its April verdict, which invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staffers in the state-run and aided schools.

In its April 3 verdict, the apex court had invalidated the appointments, calling the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted".

It had upheld a Calcutta High Court verdict of April 22, 2024, annulling the appointments and said the tainted candidates should refund their "salaries/payments received".

A batch of review petitions, including the one filed by the state, came up for consideration before a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma on August 5.

"These review petitions, which, in effect, seek a re-hearing of the entire matter on merits, therefore, do not deserve to be entertained as all relevant aspects have already been examined and considered comprehensively," the bench said.

"The applications for listing the review petitions in open court are, accordingly, rejected. The review petitions are dismissed," it said.

The bench said the April 3 judgment was passed after hearing extensive and exhaustive arguments and upon considering all aspects, factual and legal.

It noted that failure on the part of the West Bengal School Service Commission to retain the original physical OMR sheets or at least the mirror copies was a significant factor that weighed with the high court and the apex court.

"Further, it was noted that the cover-up of lapses and illegalities by the authorities made verification and ascertainment more difficult, leading to the inevitable conviction that the entire selection process was compromised owing to such illegalities.

"The entire selection, therefore, had to be invalidated to maintain the sanctity of the process of selection, which should be pristine and free of all such infirmities," the bench said.

It said interests of the appointed candidates who were untainted were sought to be protected to the greatest extent possible, as was evident from the concluding paragraphs of the judgment.

"No doubt, invalidation of such untainted appointments would lead to heartburn and anguish, which the court was fully conscious of, but protecting the purity of the selection process is paramount and necessarily has to be given the highest priority," it said.

The bench said adverse remarks made against the authorities concerned, who were wholly and solely responsible for this entire imbroglio, adversely affecting the lives of thousands of candidates, were fully warranted and justified.

In its April 3 verdict, the top court had given relief to such employees who were not in the category of tainted candidates and had previously worked in other state departments or with autonomous bodies.

"In such cases, although their appointments are cancelled, these candidates will have the right to apply to their previous departments or autonomous bodies to continue in service with those entities," it had said.

The apex court had directed the state to process their job pleas in three months.

Citing irregularities such as OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping, the high court had invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal.

The case stemmed from the alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal SSC, in which 23 lakh candidates appeared for 24,640 posts and 25,753 appointment letters were issued. PTI ABA ABA NSD NSD