West Bengal School Scam: WBSSC publishes list of 1,804 'tainted' teachers after Supreme Court ultimatum

WBSSC publishes list of 1,804 'tainted' teachers after Supreme Court ultimatum

The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has released the list of 1,804 "tainted" teachers on Saturday evening. This action comes in direct compliance with a Supreme Court order mandating the disclosure within a one-week deadline.

The list, which was uploaded to the commission's official website at 8 PM, contains the names, roll numbers, and serial numbers of individuals identified as being involved in irregularities in the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST).

On April 3, the Supreme Court of India had invalidated all 25,753 appointments made through the 2016 process. The court distinguished between "tainted" and "untainted" candidates, with the WBSSC clarifying that 5,303 individuals were flagged as "tainted," including the 1,804 teachers now named. The remaining 15,803 were categorized as "untainted."

The apex court, on August 28, issued a firm directive ordering the commission to publish the names of the tainted individuals publicly within a week, leading to Saturday's release.

A WBSSC official stated that the candidates named on the list will be permanently barred from appearing in any future recruitment examinations conducted by the commission.

According to the commission, these "tainted" candidates allegedly secured their positions either by tampering with OMR answer sheets or by leveraging political and influential connections.

WBSSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar had previously assured that the list was being finalized and that "not a single tainted candidate" would be permitted to sit for the upcoming SLST examinations scheduled for September 7 and 14.

The publication of the list sets the stage for the next phase of the fresh recruitment process, even as the political fallout over one of Bengal's largest alleged corruption scandals continues to intensify.