Ordering the completion of the recruitment process by December 31, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s guidelines, Justice Bhattacharya said that the argument of the state government was not expected.The Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to rectify its latest notification for the recruitment of over 35,000 school staff, directing it to bar “identified tainted” candidates of the 2016 selection process from applying this year.Hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the recruitment notification that was issued by the state government on the directions of the Supreme Court after it annulled the appointment of 25,752 teaching and non-teaching staff recruited in 2016, Justice Saugata Bhattacharya of the Calcutta High Court ordered that if any such tainted candidate is found to have already applied for the job, the SSC shall consider such applications deemed to be cancelled.During the hearing, TMC leader and senior advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, appearing for the WBSSC, argued that nowhere the Supreme Court order specifically prevented the identified tainted candidates from applying for the new selection process.The top court also never ruled in favour of ignoring the merits of experience while passing its direction to scrap the previous panel and ordering a new one, he said.Bandyopadhyay submitted that disallowing the candidates, who have already lost their jobs, from participating in the new selection would mean they would be punished twice. “It will be double punishment if those tainted will be barred from the recruitment process because, according to the Supreme Court order, their job was terminated, and they will have to return their salary with interest.Justice Bhattacharya stated that the “tainted” candidates have been identified based on previous judgments of the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court, and that both the SSC and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education are aware of those candidates’ identity.Ordering the completion of the recruitment process by December 31, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s guidelines, Justice Bhattacharya said that the argument of the state government was not expected.Story continues below this adHe then dismissed the state government and WBSSC’s plea for a stay on the order.“It is clear that both the state government as well as the SSC are still hell-bent on standing with the tainted teachers who secured appointment with unfair means. But the court has rejected their argument,” Firdaus Shamim, an advocate for the petitioners, said.On April 3, the Supreme Court had upheld the Calcutta High Court order which invalidated the appointment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff, recruited through the 2016 WBSSC examinations, terming the entire selection process “tainted beyond resolution” and calling for a fresh selection process to fill the vacancies.Later, the Supreme Court extended the services of “untainted” candidates employed as assistant teachers for Classes 9-12 until December 31, asking the state government to complete fresh recruitments by then.Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Calcutta High Court