West Bengal School Recruitment | Ensure Tainted Candidates Don't Slip Through Fresh Selection : Supreme Court To Calcutta High Court

The Supreme Court has declined to continue monitoring issues linked to the West Bengal school recruitment controversy and directed that all pending grievances be pursued before the Calcutta High Court, which is already examining the matter in detail.

A bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe was hearing a large batch of petitions filed by candidates and other stakeholders challenging various aspects of the teacher recruitment process. In April, the Supreme Court had upheld the Calcutta High Court's judgment to quash the entire recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission in 2016 due to various irregularities. Later, in August, the Court issued a stern warning that no candidate, who has been specifically found to be tainted by the Court's earlier judgment, should be allowed to appear in the fresh recruitment exams. Following the Court's directions, the State also published a list of the tainted candidates.

Many petitioners sought to withdraw their appeals, saying they wished to approach the High Court instead. The bench allowed the withdrawals and dismissed those petitions with liberty to move the High Court.

For the remaining petitions, the Court permitted filing and condoned delays but ultimately sent all issues back to the High Court, noting that a single judge there has already taken up the question of irregularities in the recruitment exercise and has passed several orders this month.

The Supreme Court recorded that the only reason it had kept these matters pending was to verify compliance with its earlier judgment on the controversy. Since the High Court is now addressing the same questions, the bench said it would be more appropriate for that court to undertake the entire exercise as the court of first instance.

In a clear directive, the bench instructed the High Court to ensure that no tainted candidate is allowed to enter the fresh selection process. It also asked the High Court to ensure that a complete list of tainted candidates is placed in the public domain so that none can slip through.

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 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 Court further clarified that candidates who were found to be untainted in the previous selection round should be permitted to take part in the fresh recruitment and that their prospects must not be harmed by the application of newly framed rules for teacher appointments.

The High Court shall also be mindful of the fact that the untainted candidates in the past selection were allowed to sit for the selection tests to be held afresh and their candidature cannot be adversely affected by application of the new Rules, that is, the West Bengal School Service Commission (Selection for Appointment to the Posts of Assistant Teachers for Upper Primary Level of Classes [except work Education and Physical Education], (Classes IX-X and Classes XI-XII) Rules, 2025.

The bench also noted that some petitioners were seeking relief based on specific portions of the Supreme Court's earlier judgment in the matter. It left such interpretative questions to be raised before the High Court.

With these directions, the Supreme Court disposed of all pending petitions and applications, leaving it to the Calcutta High Court to conduct a comprehensive examination of the recruitment process without being influenced by any observations previously made by the apex court.

Case : Bibek Paria and others v. State of West Bengal and others | Diary No. 46049/2025 and connected cases.

Click here to read the order