The school service commission (SSC) on Thursday published a list of 1,806 “tainted” candidates barred from the teachers’ recruitment process, complying with a high court order.
Justice Amrita Sinha had issued an interim order on November 19 directing the SSC to “forthwith” publish the complete list of tainted candidates with their addresses and other details.
The SSC released the list on Thursday afternoon under the heading “List of tainted candidates in 1st SLST (State Level Selection Test) Assistant Teacher, 2016”. It contains roll numbers from the 2016 examinations, names, dates of birth, parents’ names, and subjects for which candidates were recommended.
A commission official said the list was identical to the one released on August 30 following Supreme Court directives aimed at preventing these candidates from participating in the new selection process.
The issue erupted after allegations surfaced that the SSC’s preliminary interview list for higher secondary teachers included tainted candidates barred by the Supreme Court. Four individuals — Nisith Burman, Deblina Jana, Joynal Abedin, and Soma Das — whose names appeared on the tainted list were reportedly among the 20,000-odd candidates called for interviews in the fresh recruitment process.
Justice Sinha’s order came during the hearing of a petition raising these allegations.
An SSC official said the names of the four tainted candidates were removed during document verification.
The matter gained urgency after a Supreme Court division bench stated in a written order on Wednesday: “It would be open to all petitioners/applicants before this Court to approach the High Court (Calcutta High Court) for redressal of their lawful grievances. The high court shall, however, ensure that none of the tainted candidates are permitted to slip through in the fresh selections, be it on any pretext.”
The court added: “The high court shall also ensure that the list of tainted candidates is placed in the public domain with full details so as to ensure that this does not happen.”
The Supreme Court was hearing petitions challenging the Bengal government’s
recruitment rules.
On April 3, the apex court terminated the jobs of 17,209 secondary and higher secondary teachers. On April 17, the court divided them into two categories: untainted candidates (15,403) who could take fresh tests to retain their jobs; and tainted candidates (1,806) who were barred from participating in the new process.
Justice Sinha scheduled the next hearing for December 2.
Bengal education minister Bratya Basu responded: “Cases can always be filed. We have our lawyers. They will fight the case in the court.”