SC Returns Petitions on 2025 SLST Rules to Calcutta HC for Further Hearing

MP, Kolkata, 27 Nov 2025 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday sent back to the Calcutta High Court a set of petitions challenging the 2025 rules under which the second State Level Selection Test (SLST) is being held. With this, the High Court is expected to resume hearing the matters on November 28.

The petitions address several concerns that arose during the new recruitment process, including challenges to the 2025 rules, the dispute over whether candidates previously declared "tainted" but who have physical disabilities should be allowed to sit for the fresh test, and objections to awarding 10 marks for prior experience to teachers from private, state-sponsored, and unaided schools.

The West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC) had told the High Court that physically disabled candidates who were previously marked tainted should be permitted to participate. However, petitioners opposed this stance.

Although the Supreme Court did not pass a formal order, it made two clear observations during the hearing. The bench stated that the recruitment ordered due to the irregularities in the 2016 SLST should have been carried out separately and should not have been combined with the vacancies created for the 2025 cycle. It also noted that once a candidate is found to be "tainted," their disability status does not change that finding, and the earlier bar on tainted candidates appearing in the fresh selection test continues to apply.

The revised test is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2025.

Senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, representing petitioners who have questioned the 2025 rules, said that the court's remarks reflected his arguments before the High Court. He had submitted that the new vacancies should have been kept separate from the recruitment required under the Supreme Court’s earlier judgment concerning the 2016 panel.

The cases had been part-heard in the High Court but were on hold while the Supreme Court considered related issues. With Wednesday’s development, the High Court will now take them up again, beginning with the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the 2025 rules.