Kolkata, April 7: The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking a modification to its earlier order that invalidated 25,753 appointments made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). The petition follows a recent ruling by the Supreme Court’s Division Bench, consisting of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, which upheld an earlier decision by the Calcutta High Court. The High Court’s ruling, issued by a Division Bench led by Justices Debangsu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi, had cancelled the 25,753 appointments.
In its petition, the WBBSE has requested that those candidates identified as "genuine" be allowed to continue with their duties until the fresh recruitment process, as directed by the Court, is completed. However, the plea has raised some confusion, as the Supreme Court had previously endorsed the Calcutta High Court's ruling that all 25,753 appointments must be annulled. This decision was based on the failure of the state government and the WBSSC to properly distinguish between legitimate candidates and those who allegedly secured jobs through improper means, such as paying bribes.
The controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the appointments has also sparked criticism from opposition figures. Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, has questioned the state government's method of identifying genuine candidates. He has called on the state government to submit two separate lists to the Supreme Court: one for the genuine candidates and another for the tainted ones, complete with all relevant details. Adhikari also challenged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to personally appear before the Supreme Court to review the decision and present the required lists.
