Supreme Court dismisses review petitions in West Bengal school jobs for cash case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a batch of review petitions filed by the State of West Bengal and others challenging the top court's April 3 judgment which had upheld the en bloc cancellation of nearly 24,000 appointments made in 2016 by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

A Bench of Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma said that the review petitions were nothing more than a plea for re-hearing on merits.

“These review petitions which, in effect, seek a re-hearing of the entire matter on merits, therefore, do not deserve to be entertained as all relevant aspects have already been examined and considered comprehensively. The applications for listing the review petitions in open Court are, accordingly, rejected,” the Court said.

The Bench underlined that the April 3 judgment was delivered after hearing extensive and exhaustive arguments and upon considering all aspects, factual and legal.

A crucial factor, the order noted, was the WBSSC’s failure to retain original records.

“The failure on the part of the West Bengal Central School Service Commission to retain the original physical OMR sheets or at least the mirror copies thereof was a significant factor which weighed with the High Court and with this Court,” the Bench said.

It added that the cover-up of lapses and illegalities by the authorities made verification and ascertainment more difficult, leading to the inevitable conviction that the entire selection process was compromised owing to such illegalities.

On the impact of the April ruling, the Court conceded that it indeed caused hardships.

“No doubt, invalidation of such untainted appointments would lead to heartburn and anguish, which the Court was fully conscious of, but protecting the purity of the selection process is paramount and necessarily has to be given the highest priority,” the order stated.

The Bench also opined that the adverse remarks against the State authorities were fully warranted.

“The adverse remarks made against the authorities concerned, who were wholly and solely responsible for this entire imbroglio, adversely affecting the lives of thousands of candidates, untainted and tainted, were fully warranted and justified,” the Court said while rejecting the review petitions.

On April 3, a Bench of then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar had upheld the Calcutta High Court’s direction invalidating the entire 2016 recruitment process for assistant teachers in classes IX to XII as well as non-teaching staff in government and aided schools. The recruitment exercise, conducted by the WBSSC, had resulted in the appointment of nearly 24,000 persons.

The Court had held that the selection process stood “vitiated and riddled with manipulations and fraud” and said that attempts at cover-up had “only further denuded its credibility.” The judgment, authored by the Chief Justice, declared that the entire process was unconstitutional as it violated Articles 14 and 16 guaranteeing equality and equal opportunity in public employment.

While striking down all appointments, the Court had carved out limited reliefs. It had clarified that those whose services were terminated would not be asked to refund salaries and benefits already paid. It had further directed that disabled candidates would continue in service until a fresh selection process was undertaken, and that they would be entitled to age relaxation when they appeared again.

The judgment had also recognised the predicament of candidates who had resigned from government service to take up the tainted 2016 appointments. It directed that such candidates would have the right to approach their previous departments and seek reinstatement. The State was ordered to process their applications and ensure that their seniority and other service benefits were protected, though they would not be entitled to back wages for the intervening period. The exercise was to be completed within three months.

Importantly, the April 3 ruling had directed that no further recruitment could be made on the basis of the tainted process.

The State then filed the present review petitions challenging the verdict.

[Read Order]