On April 3, the Supreme Court of India upheld the Calcutta High Court’s decision to cancel 24,000 teaching and non-teaching staff appointments made through fraud and manipulation in the 2016 recruitment drive conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in West Bengal.
This massive judicial setback has further exposed the deep rot of corruption within the Mamata Banerjee-led administration, raising serious concerns over institutionalized fraud, large-scale bribery, and the political nexus that destroyed the aspirations of thousands of qualified candidates.
Delivering a hard-hitting verdict, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjiv Kumar refused to entertain the appeals of the West Bengal government and other petitioners, making it unequivocally clear that the selection process was tainted beyond redemption.
“The entire selection process is vitiated by large-scale manipulation and fraud. Its legitimacy and credibility are completely eroded. There is no scope for interference. The tainted candidates must be terminated immediately, as their appointments were obtained through cheating and fraud,” the Supreme Court categorically stated.
The verdict has once again placed Mamata Banerjee and her closest aides under a cloud of suspicion, as evidence suggests that such a widespread scam could not have taken place without high-level complicity.
SC Unmasks the ‘School Jobs for Cash’ Scam: How Mamata’s government betrayed 23 lakh aspirants
The West Bengal school recruitment scam is one of the biggest public sector employment scams in recent history, wherein a few thousand privileged candidates bought jobs while over 23 lakh genuine aspirants were left to suffer in silence.
The Supreme Court has now reaffirmed the High Court’s damning findings, which exposed how:
- Answer sheets of undeserving candidates were deliberately manipulated to grant them jobs.
- Merit lists were tampered with to accommodate those who allegedly paid bribes to influential figures within the ruling party.
- Questionable OMR sheet evaluations were used to ensure that only candidates with political backing or financial muscle received appointment letters.
- A clandestine network involving education officials, ministers, and TMC leaders ran the entire scam, betraying the state’s youth and ruining thousands of careers.
The scam, which has been under investigation for several years, took a major turn in 2022, when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) unearthed wads of cash totaling over ₹50 crore from properties linked to then-Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, a key Mamata Banerjee aide. This sensational revelation confirmed that jobs were being sold to the highest bidder.
CJI’s verdict is a death blow to TMC’s false claims
Despite Mamata Banerjee and her government’s desperate attempts to shield those involved, the Supreme Court has now shattered every false narrative spun by the TMC leadership. The verdict not only upholds the Calcutta High Court’s decision to scrap all 24,000 illegal appointments, but also exposes the extent of systemic fraud under the TMC regime.
The Supreme Court Bench, while delivering its ruling, minced no words in its harsh criticism of the recruitment process, stating: “This is a textbook case of corruption, where fraud was systematically executed at every stage. The manipulation was so deep-rooted that the selection process is beyond repair. Public employment cannot be reduced to a money-making racket.”
The TMC government’s desperate plea that mass cancellations would create a staff vacuum in schools was brushed aside by the Bench, which ruled that the “integrity of public employment outweighs political convenience.” Additionally, the Court ordered that a fresh, transparent selection process be conducted within three months, allowing only untainted candidates a chance at employment.
Partha Chatterjee in Jail, But Who Will Investigate Mamata Banerjee’s Role?
The biggest question now looming is: how deep was Mamata Banerjee’s involvement in this multi-crore scam?
The Supreme Court’s ruling has reaffirmed that Mamata’s close confidants, including former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, were key orchestrators of this racket. Chatterjee, who was once among the most powerful ministers in Banerjee’s cabinet, was arrested after ED raids unearthed massive amounts of black money from his aides.
Apart from Chatterjee, several high-profile individuals remain behind bars for their involvement in this fraud, including:
- Manik Bhattacharya, former WBSSC chairman and TMC MLA.
- Jiban Krishna Saha, TMC MLA.
- Santanu Kundu and Kuntal Ghosh, suspended TMC leaders involved in money laundering linked to the scam.
While these arrests have rocked the TMC leadership, legal experts and opposition leaders are now demanding an inquiry into Mamata Banerjee’s direct role.
BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya hit out at Banerjee, stating: “This is a crushing defeat for Mamata Banerjee. She cannot pretend to be unaware when her close aide is in jail for a crime of this magnitude. She must be held accountable for the careers ruined under her watch. The law must not stop at Partha Chatterjee—it must reach Mamata herself.”
Crushing defeat for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the Supreme Court upholds the Calcutta High Court’s decision invalidating nearly 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff appointments made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) in 2016.
The Court… pic.twitter.com/LUBdnVpL6e
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 3, 2025
Calcutta High Court’s landmark orders: A timeline of exposing corruption
In April 2024, the Calcutta High Court took a historic step by:
- Cancelling all 24,000 illegal appointments after finding evidence of systematic fraud.
- Ordering all employees to return the salaries they had received, as their jobs were fraudulently obtained.
- Directing the CBI to continue its investigation, ensuring that all political links to the scam are exposed.
While the Supreme Court has now relieved the terminated employees from repaying their salaries, it has upheld every other aspect of the High Court’s explosive findings, reinforcing the unimaginable scale of corruption that took place under TMC rule
