West Bengal SSC scam: Calcutta HC cancels all 2016 appointments, asks illegal candidates to return salaries

West Bengal SSC ‘scam’: The Calcutta High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday, April 22, to investigate further into the irregularities surrounding the 2016 selection process for school jobs in West Bengal. 

A division bench comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi asked the CBI to submit a report within the next three months. It also asked the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) to initiate a fresh recruitment process.

The court nullified the appointments of all teaching and non-teaching staff hired in 2016, newswire PTI reported. More than 23 lakh candidates appeared for the State Level Selection Test (SLST) 2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. A total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued.

The court has also ordered those “recruited illegally” to return their salaries within six weeks, newswire ANI reported.

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Following a high court order, the CBI had previously arrested former education minister Partha Chatterjee and several officials from the SSC due to suspicions of involvement in a scam.

The action followed petitions filed by candidates who had passed the SLST 2016 but were not appointed to jobs. 

Retired Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who led a court, had earlier ordered the CBI investigation into alleged irregularities in the hiring process. 

The high court also decided to terminate the jobs of 36,000 teaching and non-teaching staff after discovering irregularities.

Gangopadhyay, upon retirement, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is all set to contest from Tamluk in the Lok Sabha Elections.

What is West Bengal SSC ‘scam’?

In 2014, West Bengal announced the hiring of teachers for government schools through the SLST process, which began in 2016. However, some aspirants went to the Calcutta High Court with complaints about the hiring process.

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They claimed that some candidates with lower scores ranked higher on the merit list. There were also claims that a few people who were not on the merit list at all got job offers.

In 2016, the West Bengal government told the SSC to hire 13,000 Group-D employees for state schools. However, by 2019, the authority responsible for the hiring process had expired. Despite this, reports emerged that at least 25 people were still appointed by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE).