Kolkata, April 2, 2025 – The Supreme Court delivered a significant setback to West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) government on Wednesday, striking down the appointment of 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff from a 2016 recruitment drive, as reported by Hindustan Times. Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath upheld a Calcutta High Court ruling that declared the process “vitiated” due to widespread irregularities, including inflated marks and a cash-for-jobs racket, plunging the state’s education sector into uncertainty.
The scandal, which erupted in 2022, saw the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) unearth a web of corruption tied to TMC leaders, notably former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, who remains in custody. Over 23 lakh candidates vied for 24,640 posts, but digitized records revealed post-deadline tampering—some candidates’ scores were boosted by up to 20 marks, while others paid Rs 5-15 lakh for positions, per CBI findings. The Supreme Court dismissed the state’s plea to salvage 5,000 jobs, arguing the entire exercise was irredeemably flawed.
The fallout traces back to a flawed State Level Selection Test (SLST) process, launched under Mamata Banerjee’s administration to fill teaching vacancies. Whistleblower complaints in 2021 triggered judicial scrutiny, with the Calcutta High Court first annulling the appointments in April 2022—a decision the TMC contested, citing procedural errors rather than systemic fraud (The Indian Express, 2022). The apex court’s ruling now validates those probes, spotlighting a recruitment system riddled with favoritism and kickbacks.
West Bengal’s education landscape, already grappling with infrastructure gaps—only 68% of teaching posts filled statewide (UDISE, 2023)—faces immediate strain. Rural schools, where shortages are acute, may see class sizes balloon or closures loom, while urban centers brace for protests from affected staff. The state employed over 30,000 temporary teachers in 2024 to plug gaps (Times of India, Jan 2025), but this verdict upends even those stopgaps, forcing a rethink of hiring protocols.
The political stakes are high. The TMC has faced flak for governance lapses, with this ruling amplifying opposition BJP’s narrative of corruption—Chatterjee’s arrest yielded Rs 50 crore in cash seizures (NDTV, 2022). Yet, the human cost cuts deeper: lakhs of aspirants, some waiting years for jobs, now face an uncertain reset, while students bear the brunt of disrupted classrooms. The judiciary’s firm stance aims to restore integrity, but can it rebuild a system broken by greed, or will it leave West Bengal’s education in limbo?
