Overview
- On July 10, a division bench of Justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das De upheld Justice Saugata Bhattacharya’s July 7 order to debar candidates identified as tainted by the Supreme Court from the fresh selection process.
- The bench dismissed the West Bengal government and WBSSC’s contention that excluding those applicants would violate Article 20(2) protections against double punishment.
- The recruitment drive for over 44,000 teaching and non-teaching posts, launched under a May 30 notification, continues with applications that opened June 16 and close July 14.
- Of the 1,801 candidates labeled tainted in the 2016 scam, only 188 had applied for the new recruitment out of approximately 260,000 total applicants.
- The ruling reinforces the Supreme Court’s April decision to annul 25,753 appointments over corruption and bars implicated individuals from rejoining the school service commission.