Day after landmark judgment in West Bengal SSC scam, SC order opens door for 2,200 primary teachers

 The Supreme Court directed that appointments can be made in accordance with an earlier ruling of the Calcutta High Court

Niladry Sarkar, TW, April 04, 2025 : A day after upholding the Calcutta High Court's ruling that led to the dismissal of over 25,500 employees, the Supreme Court on Friday overturned a decision of the High Court, paving the way for the recruitment of more than 2,200 candidates as primary teachers in West Bengal government-run and aided schools.

The matter pertains to the 2022 notification issued by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) which invited applications to fill over 11,765 vacant posts. The board stated that candidates who had qualified for the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) and were trained in D.El.Ed (Diploma in Elementary Education) graduates, as well as those who were undergoing D.El.Ed training in the current academic session were eligible to apply.

A case was filed in the Calcutta High Court challenging this decision of the board. The petitioners argued that some 2014 TET qualifiers did not have a D.El.Ed degree since it was not a requirement for appearing in TET at the time. Only after the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) made D.El.Ed mandatory, these candidates enrolled in the course in 2020. As a result, their training remained incomplete when the WBBPE recruitment notification was issued, making them ineligible to apply, according to the petitioners.

However, former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay approved the board’s decision. He noted that candidates from the 2020-22 academic session had begun their course in June 2020 and their two-year course was completed in June 2022.

This meant that by September 29, 2022, when the recruitment notification was issued, all these candidates would have already appeared for their final exams. Therefore, he ruled that candidates from this academic session had the right to participate in the recruitment process.

The matter was then taken before the division bench of Justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya who overturned the single bench order. The two-judge bench claimed that although the academic phase was completed in June 2022, certificates were to be issued in November 2022. As a result, without the certificates, they could not be considered eligible.

The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, following which 9,533 candidates were appointed. However, a legal dispute continued over who should be given priority for the remaining 2,232 positions.

A bench comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi on Friday finally announced its verdict, rejecting the Calcutta High Court’s division bench order. The apex court directed that appointments can be made in accordance with the earlier ruling of the Calcutta High Court.