Kolkata, 16 July (H.S.) -

In a major relief to thousands of teaching job aspirants, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed all petitions challenging the West Bengal School Service Commission’s (WBSSC) 2025 recruitment notification, effectively clearing the legal path for the appointment of over 26,000 teachers in the state.

A division bench comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das upheld the legitimacy of the new recruitment process, ruling that there was no need to interfere with the 2025 notification or its revised selection rules.

The judgment brings to a close the prolonged legal impasse that followed the cancellation of the controversial 2016 recruitment process, which was marred by large-scale irregularities and eventually quashed by the courts. In compliance with Supreme Court directives, the WBSSC issued a fresh notification in 2025, introducing significant changes to the eligibility criteria and selection procedures.

Several aspirants, however, had moved the High Court alleging that the new notification deviated from the framework of the 2016 rules and violated the spirit of the Supreme Court’s instructions.

Defending the state’s stance, Advocate General Kishore Dutta argued that a revised recruitment policy was adopted in 2019, which remained unchallenged at the time. The 2025 notification, he asserted, was based on the 2019 framework and could not be declared illegal. He further argued that the Commission had the authority to decide qualification parameters, including prioritizing teaching experience for appointment.

Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the WBSSC, told the court that the earlier High Court ruling had only directed the Commission to initiate the recruitment process but had not mandated adherence to the 2016 rules. He clarified that age relaxation provisions from 2016 were no longer applicable and that changes in rules were made under the Supreme Court’s guidance.

On the other hand, petitioners’ counsels Anindya Mitra and Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya contended that the WBSSC had deliberately flouted the Supreme Court’s order and arbitrarily altered eligibility criteria in the new notification without due authority.

The revised 2025 notification brought notable changes to the selection process. The weightage for the written examination was increased from 55 to 60 marks, while the marks allocated for academic qualifications were reduced from 35 to 10. Additionally, interviews, teaching experience, and lecture demonstrations were each assigned 10 marks. The maximum age limit for applicants was capped at 40 years as of January 1, 2025.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh