The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the deadline for the schoolteacher recruitment process in Bengal from December 31 to August 31 next year, paving the way for the thousands of “untainted” to continue in service for another eight months.
Bengal education minister Bratya Basu welcomed the ruling and, in a post on X, claimed the order “suggests that the Supreme Court has reposed faith (in) what the chief minister is doing in this regard”.
This is the third lifeline for the “untainted”. On August 21, the top court had directed the state to allow all such candidates to participate in the fresh selection process without insisting on the new eligibility criterion of a minimum 50 per cent score in candidates’ undergraduate and postgraduate exams.
The court had also extended by 10 days the last date for the “untainted” to submit their applications.
The first relief for the “untainted” had come in the apex court’s April 3 judgment that, while quashing the entire 2016 recruitment process as “tainted”, allowed them to continue in service till August 31 this year.
That was in the context of the initial deadline of August 31, 2025, for the fresh recruitment process, which was later extended till December 31.
However, with aggrieved candidates having filed multiple petitions before Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court, the Bengal secondary school board, the state government and the state staff selection commission (SSC) had approached the top court seeking a further extension till August 31 next year.
On Thursday, the bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe accepted the plea after hearing senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing the school board.
Banerjee said the recruitment process for teachers for Classes XI and XII was almost over and the results would be announced by January 7, to be followed by counselling.
The selection process for teachers for Classes IX and X will be completed by March, followed by counselling and other formalities, he added.
The court’s official order had not been released till late evening.
Minister Basu posted: “The teachers will continue to work till August 31 as they were doing earlier. This order of Justice Sanjay Kumar makes it clear that the West Bengal School Service Commission is carrying out a transparent recruitment process.”
SSC chairperson Siddhartha Majumdar said: “The (new) timeline will enable us to complete the recruitment process. We informed the court how much progress we have made….”
The secretary of the state secondary education board said the Supreme Court’s order was a “forward-looking decision in the interest of the students and the education system of Bengal”.
The fresh recruitment process had started in May after the April 3 judgment upheld Calcutta High Court’s verdict quashing the appointment of 25,000-odd teachers because of various irregularities in the selection process.
On November 26, the apex court bench had sent back to Calcutta High Court a batch of petitions that had challenged the state government’s fresh recruitment rules for schoolteachers.
The bench had noted that the appointment process had already begun and said that any further grievance could be raised before the high court.
On Thursday, the bench indicated that all remaining matters relating to the recruitment process, and the challenge mounted to it, would continue to be heard by the high court.
Additional reporting byour Calcutta bureau