The West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) on Thursday republished a detailed list of 1,806 “tainted” candidates from the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST), as the state government reaffirmed its commitment to completing fresh recruitment by December 31.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the commission to make OMR sheets of SLST 2025 candidates public to ensure transparency.
The SSC said it released the list again “in adherence to a Calcutta High Court order”, which asked the commission to provide comprehensive identification details of “undeserving” candidates.
The updated list includes names, parents’ names, subjects, roll numbers, and dates of birth.
But it does not mention the schools where these candidates had worked for nearly a decade.
An SSC official said the list was not linked to candidates who took the September 2025 recruitment test.
“We had earlier uploaded the same list of tainted teachers. But this time as directed by the high court, we have included the additional details to ensure full transparency,” he said.
The Supreme Court had invalidated 25,753 appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff from the 2016 SLST, stating that the entire recruitment process was “tainted and vitiated” beyond redemption.
Education minister Bratya Basu said the SSC is working to complete fresh recruitment on time and with transparency. “We are confident of addressing the issue in a time-bound and transparent manner,” he told reporters.
Speaking about the September 7 and 14 tests, Basu said the process was unique for the country, involving “uploading model answer keys for candidates and providing a carbon copy for every sheet”. He added, "Each and every clause and detail was adhered to, and not a single tainted candidate's name featured in the list of aspirants."
“Our job is to complete the recruitment process by December 31 and we will ensure that," he asserted. Asked about possible legal setbacks, he said the government does not comment on “hypothetical situations”.
He also alleged that the Opposition might approach the court “to disrupt the recruitment drive to come to power, and discredit the Mamata Banerjee-led government”. He said the government is focused on restoring jobs “via a transparent and well-established procedure”.
‘Publish OMR sheets of SLST 2025 candidates’: Calcutta HC
The Calcutta High Court directed the SSC to publish the OMR sheets of SLST 2025 candidates for classes 9–10 and 11–12. Justice Amrita Sinha observed that the commission must ensure fairness “from the very first step to rule out any illegality”.
The court said making the OMR sheets public would ensure that “none has any complaint against any candidate”.
The court also asked the SSC to produce the list of people appointed after the expiry of the 2016 SLST panels. It noted that the panels expired in November 2018 for classes 11–12 and in March 2019 for classes 9–10.
The matter will be heard again on December 10.
Petitioners participating in SLST 2025 alleged that the names of tainted candidates appeared in the successful lists for both sets of written exams. Their lawyer, Sudipto Dasgupta, argued that the SSC should identify the category of wrongdoing for each tainted candidate, such as “rank jumping” or appointment after the panel’s expiry.
The petitioners further alleged that individuals appointed after the 2016 panel’s expiry — deemed illegal by the Supreme Court — were being allowed to sit for SLST 2025, contrary to court directions.
Dasgupta said the Supreme Court had held that no tainted candidate can take the exam, and that any such candidature “would be cancelled after verification”.
Petitioners also said the SSC has only listed candidates with OMR mismatches as tainted, while excluding those appointed after the panel expired.
