WBSSC May Face Technical Difficulties in Detecting 'Tainted' Candidates Seeking Fresh Recruitment

SNS, KOLKATA, 12 JULY, 2025 : The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) may encounter technical difficulties in promptly identifying "tainted" candidates applying for the posts that became vacant after the Supreme Court cancelled 25,753 school jobs in connection with the recruitment scam case.

Earlier this week, both a single-judge bench and a division bench of the Calcutta High Court barred the identified "tainted" candidates from participating in the fresh recruitment process. The court also directed that applications from such candidates be summarily rejected.

However, sources from the commission stated that the prompt identification of such applicants would only be possible if the candidates apply under two new weightage criteria: prior teaching experience and lecture demonstration.

"If a candidate applies under the new weightage criteria category, we will be able to immediately check whether his or her name appears on the list of identified tainted candidates. Otherwise, identifying such candidates, though possible, will be a time-consuming exercise," the WBSSC sources explained.

Currently, a case is pending before the Calcutta High Court's division bench, headed by Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das, where the two new weightage criteria are being challenged. The crucial hearing is scheduled to take place on Monday.

The grounds for the challenge are that the procedure to be followed in the fresh recruitment process should be the same as the one followed in 2016, the entire panel of which was cancelled by the Supreme Court in April this year.

In the meantime, WBSSC has decided to extend the last date for submission of applications by another seven days. The original deadline for submitting online applications was July 14, but it will now be extended until July 21.