On Thursday, a Supreme Court bench consisting of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar heard the matters related to the alleged West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam. This hearing stems from the Calcutta High Court's decision to cancel the appointments of over 23,000 teaching and non-teaching staff.
In April this year, a Calcutta High Court bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi cancelled the entire panel recruited through the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST) for the state government-sponsored and aided schools in West Bengal.
The court had determined that the state failed to differentiate between legitimate appointees and those who secured jobs through bribery. Multiple appeals were subsequently filed with the Supreme Court, which stayed the High Court's ruling in May.
The division bench of CJI Khanna and Justice Kumar heard the matters with the motive to unearth if it was possible to separate the tainted candidates from the rightful ones.
During a hearing lasting over four hours, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the West Bengal government, asserted that distinguishing between tainted and untainted candidates was achievable. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the SSC, supported this claim.
The top court observed that, without the original OMR sheets or their mirror images, the only available evidence consists of scanned copies provided by an external private company engaged in this task.
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The bench led by the chief justice, however, highlighted that there was evidence suggesting discrepancies between the marks on some scanned OMR sheets and their original counterparts. It emphasised the need to analyse the scanners' metadata to verify whether any alterations were made to the scanned images.
The division bench also raised the issue of the creation of supernumerary posts, saying that it was done to ensure that tainted candidates are not thrown out. The West Bengal government claimed that no appointments were made in those supernumerary posts.
The court will sit again to hear the matters next month. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted conditional bail to Partha Chatterjee, the former West Bengal education minister arrested in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged SSC recruitment scam.
The court instructed that his trial be expedited, with charges framed and witness examinations concluded by February 1, 2025. While Chatterjee may be released earlier if the ED completes its proceedings before the deadline, his detention cannot extend beyond that date.
