Kolkata, 2 September (H.S.): The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by candidates linked to the West Bengal teachers’ recruitment scam, who were listed as “tainted and ineligible” by the School Service Commission (SSC). The court came down heavily on the petitioners, questioning the delay in filing their plea.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharya, during the hearing, remarked:

“Enough is enough. After the Supreme Court’s directive, the SSC published the list. How can you now claim you are not among the ‘tainted and ineligible’? You did not attend school after the April 17 Supreme Court order. Why are you suddenly approaching the court now?”

Last week, acting on the Supreme Court’s order, the SSC published a list of 1,806 tainted candidates, declaring them ineligible to sit for the upcoming recruitment exams scheduled on September 7 and September 14. The petitioners moved the High Court only after the list was published, claiming they had been wrongly categorized.

Counsels for the petitioners, Anindya Lahiri and Shakya Sen, argued that their clients did not fall within the definition of “tainted candidates” as described by the Division Bench. They claimed their clients had attempted at least one question in the exam and therefore could not be deemed completely ineligible.

However, SSC’s counsel Kalyan Bandopadhyay countered that all petitioners had manipulated their OMR sheets and secured jobs through “rank jumps.” He said,

“There is no scope for debate. The CBI investigation findings were cross-verified with SSC records. All these candidates were found ineligible.”

Justice Bhattacharya further asked why the petitioners had not moved court earlier:

“If you were barred from attending school until December 31, why didn’t you approach the court then? Why wait until exam time to file a petition?”

The petitioners also questioned why they had been issued admit cards if they were to be barred later. The court rejected this argument, ruling that there was no scope to interfere with the SSC’s published list of tainted candidates.

With the High Court’s decision, the petitioners will not be allowed to sit for the upcoming recruitment examinations.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh