A petition moved before Calcutta High Court has alleged that several “tainted” candidates feature on the school service commission’s (SSC) interview shortlist. The case has been admitted, and Justice Amrita Sinha is expected to hear it on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court had earlier barred “tainted” candidates from participating in the state’s fresh school-teacher recruitment process.
The SSC on Saturday released a list of more than 20,000 candidates shortlisted for interviews, based on written-test scores (60 marks), academic qualifications (10 marks) and prior teaching experience (10 marks). This round aims to recruit 12,454 teachers for higher secondary posts in government-aided schools.
The petitioner has alleged that one tainted teacher from Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur — whose service was terminated after the Supreme Court scrapped thousands of appointments made through a “vitiated” 2016 recruitment — features on the interview list.
According to the petitioner, the candidate, a teacher of education, appeared for the September 14 Class XII-level selection test under the physically handicapped (PH) category.
The SSC on August 30 published the names of 1,806 tainted teachers from the now-scrapped 2016 process. The list was uploaded after the state government assured the apex court that it would identify all compromised candidates from the recruitment exercise, which had been annulled by Calcutta High Court in April 2024 and later upheld by the Supreme Court in April 2025.
In its April 3 order, the Supreme Court cancelled the jobs of 17,206 teachers but instructed the SSC to classify them into two groups: candidates not specifically found tainted — later termed “untainted” by the court — who may continue working with salaries until December, and those categorised as tainted, who must not participate in the new recruitment.
The petitioner has alleged that some among the 1,806 tainted candidates have entered the interview round, calling it a violation of the court’s mandate. The petitioner alleged that there were many such aberrations.
Advocate Firdaus Shamim, representing the petitioner, said: “This inclusion of the tainted among the interviewees is a clear violation of what the Supreme Court ordered. We have brought this to the attention of the court.”
An official of the education department said that the list published on Saturday is a preliminary one. “If there are any aberrations, they will be weeded out during the verification process. That is why verification has been built in as an intermediate stage between the preliminary interview list and the final one. Our senior advocate placed this before the Supreme Court, and the court recorded it,” the official said.
The official added that the apex court had granted certain exceptions for candidates with physical disabilities. The April 3 order allowed appointees with disabilities to continue receiving wages until the new process concludes and permitted them to participate in the next recruitment with age relaxation and similar concessions if needed.
The official said it had to be examined whether the Kaliaganj candidate falls under such permitted relaxation.
Education minister Bratya Basu said: “We are taking legal opinion about this. We want to see whether the Supreme Court extended any relaxation to differently abled candidates in its order. Then we will decide. Apart from this one case, no other tainted candidates feature on the list of interviewees.”
The SSC will begin verification on Tuesday, after which interview schedules (carrying 10 marks) will be released. Candidates will also have to deliver 10-mark lecture demonstrations. Final selection will be based on 100 marks.
The official said: “These allegations are premature. Verification has not begun, and the list is subject to validation. The rules state that verification will continue up to the counselling stage.”