Who are the Victims of Education Scam in West Bengal? | Arup Kumar Sen

Corruption has become a part and parcel of contemporary public life in India. It is noteworthy that West Bengal did not figure in the list of top 8 corrupt states in India, according to the India Corruption Survey 2019, an independent survey which sought around 1,90,000 responses. On the other hand, West Bengal found its place in the list of the least corrupt states (See www.moneycontrol.com)

The Supreme Court verdict on April 4, 2025, is concerned with the gigantic recruitment scam of the West Bengal government. The Supreme Court upheld a Calcutta High Court order which quashed the entire selection process conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016 for the recruitment of teachers for Classes IX to XII and Group C and D staff, cancelling around 25,700 appointments. The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar justified the mass terminations by saying that the “entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution.” They argued that “manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair and partial redemption.” (Quoted in The Telegraph, April 4, 2025)

The outcomes of this verdict have been disastrous. Thousands have lost their secure government jobs overnight. As expected, the opposition political parties are trying to get political mileage out of the Supreme Court verdict. What alarms us is the plight of so many young men and women, who did not do any crime in being selected by the WBSSC by virtue of their performance. The Supreme Court bench itself noted that among the victims were “some of the appointed candidates, who do not fall within the category of tainted candidates.” (See The Indian Express, April 4, 2025)

The Article 21 of the Indian Constitution is concerned with the protection of life and personal liberty. It ensures certain safeguards against arbitrary deprivation of life and liberty. The ethical question that comes to our mind is: Why should the bright young citizens of India pay the high price of losing their government jobs for the alleged corruptions/frauds of the state government functionaries.