Kolkata, Nov 17 (NationPress) A legal challenge has been initiated at the Calcutta High Court regarding the results of the written examination for the recruitment of new higher secondary teachers in government schools across West Bengal. The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) published these results on Saturday evening.

This recruitment drive aims to fill positions left vacant due to the cancellation of approximately 26,000 teaching roles by the Supreme Court earlier this year. In its April ruling, the Supreme Court prohibited 'tainted' teachers—those who secured their positions through corrupt means—from participating in the new recruitment.

The petition, submitted to the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha, asserts that the list of candidates eligible for interviews, released by WBSSC, includes several of these 'tainted' individuals.

The petitioner raised concerns about how candidates deemed 'tainted' could appear in the merit list for interviews when they were explicitly barred from entering the fresh recruitment process, the first phase of which involved a written exam held in September.

This petition has been accepted by Justice Sinha, with a hearing anticipated within the week.

Approximately 20,000 candidates who sat for the written exam have qualified for interviews, with document verification set to commence on November 18.

On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld a previous ruling by a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, which annulled the WBSSC's entire 2016 panel. The apex court agreed with the High Court's stance that the entire panel must be nullified since neither the state education department nor the commission provided separate lists to distinguish 'untainted' candidates from their 'tainted' counterparts.

The Supreme Court mandated that the entire recruitment process must conclude by December 31 of this year. While 'tainted' teachers are barred from the new recruitment, 'untainted' teachers are permitted to apply.