In a setback for the Mamata Banerjee administration in West Bengal, the Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed the Calcutta High Court’s ruling to nullify the appointments of 25,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel made by the state School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016 concerning the purported school jobs for cash scandal.
A panel comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjiv Kumar declined to intervene in the High Court’s ruling, noting that the appointments were tainted by fraud.
“We have reviewed the details. Concerning the outcomes of this case, the whole selection process is tainted by deception and fraud, stripping it of its credibility and legitimacy. No cause to intervene. Candidates with tainted backgrounds must be dismissed, as their appointments resulted from cheating and therefore constitute fraud,” the Court stated in its ruling, according to Bar and Bench.”
The court, nonetheless, stated that the candidates who have already been hired do not have to return the salary they have earned thus far.
The bench additionally directed that a new selection procedure must be completed within three months.
“The new selection process may also allow leniencies for unblemished candidates,” the court stated.
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The jobs-for-scam case
The Bengal cash-for-jobs scheme pertains to the unlawful recruitment of educators and personnel in primary and secondary schools during the hiring process of 2016.
In 2016, over 2.3 million candidates appeared for tests for 25,000 job vacancies. Nonetheless, subsequent grievances were submitted to the Calcutta High Court asserting that numerous candidates were unfairly hired due to errors in the evaluation of their answer sheets.
In April of the previous year, the Calcutta High Court annulled all those appointments, stating that it was uncertain how the 23 lakh answer sheets were evaluated. The court additionally mandated a reassessment of all of them.
The High Court deemed all these recruitments invalid and directed the employees to refund their salaries. The court likewise ordered a CBI probe into the matter.
