The West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC) has moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its verdict annulling the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staffers in state-run and aided schools.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, on April 3, upheld the Calcutta High Court verdict of April 22, 2024, invalidating the appointment of teachers and staffers in the state-run and aided schools, terming the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted".

On April 17, the top court extended till December 31 the services of the terminated teachers found untainted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), after taking note of the state government's submissions that the mass terminations have adversely impacted teaching in the schools.

The plea seeking a review of the judgment was filed in the top court on May 3 and may be taken up for consideration in the coming days.

Usually, a review plea is considered by the judges, who delivered the impugned judgement, in chambers by circulation without a hearing, unless the court decides otherwise.

"This is a case wherein the entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution. Manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair and partial redemption. The credibility and legitimacy of the selection are denuded," read the 41-page judgment authored by the CJI.

"We find no valid ground or reason to interfere with the direction of the high court that the services of tainted candidates, where appointed, must be terminated and they should be required to refund any salaries/payments received. Since their appointments were the result of fraud, this amounts to cheating. Therefore, we see no justification to alter this direction," it added.

While extending the services of the terminated teachers who were found untainted by the CBI during its probe, the bench had asked the state government and the service commission to conclude the fresh recruitment process by December 31.

Citing irregularities such as OMR-sheet tampering and rank jumping, the high court had invalidated the appointment of the 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in the state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal.

The case stemmed from alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal SSC, in which 23 lakh candidates appeared for 24,640 posts and a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued. The apex court had called it a "systemic fraud".

Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being probed in the recruitment scam.

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