The Supreme Court on Thursday (April 17, 2025) directed the West Bengal government to initiate recruitment process for assistant teachers to Classes 9 to 12.
| Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI
The Supreme Court on Thursday (April 17, 2025) directed the West Bengal government to initiate recruitment process for assistant teachers to Classes nine to 12, saying its decision is guided by a concern for students in their crucial and formative academic years.
The apex court, in a judgment on April 3, had confirmed the en bloc cancellation of an earlier “tainted” selection process. The judgment had affected nearly 24000 teaching and non-teaching appointments in government and aided schools across the State.
“There was vast bungling… Our concern is for the children,” Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna remarked on Thursday (April 17, 2025).
The court directed that the advertisement for the recruitment process for assistant teachers to these four classes must be published on or before May 31, 2025. The entire recruitment process should be completed by December 31, 2025.
The Bench ordered the State government and secondary school education authorities to file an affidavit before May 31, enclosing the advertisement and a schedule of the entire recruitment process till December 31.
The court cautioned that “appropriate” orders would be passed if the State failed to publish the advertisement followed by the filing of the affidavit.
Noting that the number of tainted candidates in the earlier selection process was “substantially high”, the Bench said students ought not to suffer from the fraud.
Supreme court on SSC recruitment in 2016
The recruitments, made in 2016 by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), were linked to the cash-for-school jobs recruitment “scam”. The SSC had held the selection process in 2016 for assistant teachers for classes nine to 12 and non-teaching staff.
On April 22 last year, the High Court had ordered the invalidation of all 23,123 appointments teaching and non-teaching staffers, whether tainted or not.
The apex court had agreed with the High Court finding that the selection process was vitiated and riddled with manipulations and fraud. Attempts were made to cover up the fraud which has only further denuded its credibility and legitimacy of the selection process.
Chief Justice Khanna, who authored the judgment, had declared that the entire selection process was null and void for even candidates who were not specifically found tainted. The apex court said the egregious violations and illegalities found in the selection process violated Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 16 (right to equal opportunity in public employment) of the Constitution.
The State of West Bengal had approached the apex court contending that the High Court had acted in an erroneous manner by mechanically cancelling all the appointments without segregating and examining the merits of each individual recruitment.
The State had argued that the sudden termination of 23,123 teaching and non-teaching staff had put school education in a quandary. The education system itself had threatened to come to a virtual standstill.
Published – April 17, 2025 01:24 pm IST
