Describing the West Bengal Teacher Recruitment as fully tentad and contaminated, the Supreme Court canceled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and other employees. The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Calcutta High Court. Candidates whose appointments have been placed in the category of fraud will have to return their salary. This decision of the Supreme Court has been strongly criticized by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Describing it as ‘gross injustice’, Mamata Banerjee alleged that this is a conspiracy hatched by the BJP, which aims to stop these teachers from electoral duty. He also said, ‘I cannot support this decision.’
Mamta Banerjee, while canceling the entire recruitment, questioned the collective dismissal of all the candidates. He said, ‘Not all appointed teachers can be guilty, whom you are convicted, we have no evidence against them. Does the BJP government want to demolish the education system of Bengal? ‘ However, he said that the state government will implement the decision of the court and will repeat the selection process again. Let’s look at the time line of this entire matter.
West Bengal School Services Commission (WBSSC) issued a notification for the recruitment of teachers and non-teacher employees in government and aided schools. This process started on the basis of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). Partha Chatterjee was the education minister of the state at that time.
2016: Recruitment process started
In the year 2016, the recruitment process of teachers and other employees started, through which a total of 24,640 posts were to be filled. More than 23 lakh candidates applied. The examination was conducted on the basis of OMR sheets, but later there was allegations of manipulation.
27 November 2017: Results declared
WBSSC declared the results of the teacher recruitment exam and released the merit list. However, many candidates accused the results of disturbances, such as the candidates with low marks getting more rank and those who do not pass TET. By the end of the year, the candidates failed against the alleged rigging in the results started protests across the state. Many filed petitions in the Calcutta High Court.
22 July 2022: Arrest of then Education Minister Partha Chatterjee
In April 2022, the Calcutta High Court directed the CBI to investigate irregularities in the recruitment process. On the other hand, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) started investigating aspects of money laundering. The ED investigated with the money laundering angle and found evidence of financial transactions between Parth-Eripita. 21 crore rupees cash recovered from Arpita’s house was considered to be the earnings of the scam. On July 22, the then Education Minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested. The CBI and ED also questioned other leaders and officials, such as Manik Bhattacharya (TMC MLA and former Chairman of the WB Primary Education).
22 April 2024: Big decision of Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court canceled 25,753 appointments in the 2016 recruitment process. The court called it a “systematic fraud”, which found evidence like tampering and rank jumping in OMR sheets. The High Court had found that where only 24,640 posts were to be admitted, a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued. The court ordered the illegally appointed employees to return with salary and profit 12% interest. Also, the CBI directed to continue the investigation and start the new recruitment to the WBSSC.
7 May 2024: Supreme Court interim stay
The West Bengal government challenged the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court imposed an interim restriction on the cancellation of appointments, but allowed the CBI to continue the investigation. The court said that it is necessary to separate valid and illegal appointments.
19 December 2024: Hearing starts in Supreme Court
The Supreme Court started a detailed hearing of the case. The hearing was based on the petitions of several parties, which included the state government and the affected employees.
31 January 2025: ED charge sheet
ED filed a charge sheet against 20 people and seized assets worth Rs 163 crore. It included middlemen Prasanna Roy and his company.
10 February 2025: Decision secured
The Supreme Court reserved its decision in the case. The court questioned the credibility of the recruitment process and considered evidence of fraud.
3 April 2025: Supreme Court’s final decision
The Supreme Court canceled 25,753 appointments keeping the Calcutta High Court verdict. Describing it as a “systemic fraud”, the court said that the process was manipulated on a large scale. The state government was ordered to start a new recruitment process in 3 months. According to the order of the Supreme Court, the state government will have to complete the new recruitment process by July 2025. This process is expected to be transparent and fair, in which lessons will be taken from previous experiences.
What will happen to impeccable candidates?
The result of the recruitment examination of West Bengal teachers and other employees was declared on 27 November 2017. More than 25 thousand candidates who got appointment were working. Now the Supreme Court has terminated their services. However, the court also made it clear that the candidates selected in the process who are out of the category of cheating and fraud, can re -apply for jobs they had left. The court said that they should be allowed to apply for their previous posts again. Also, the time between previous and this recruitment will not be considered a break in service.
West Bengal assembly elections will affect 2026?
The teacher recruitment scam is also expected to affect the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 next year. Some people believe that this scam can have a profound impact on the credibility of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) government. Opposition parties, especially BJP, can make it a major issue in the 2026 assembly elections.