In Brief
West Bengal issued a notification in December 2020 to fill 16,500 primary school teacher vacancies. A merit list for 15,284 candidates was notified in February 2021. After 12,571 appointments were made, 3,929 vacancies remained unfilled when the merit list expired in February 2022 (one year validity under Rule 12). Candidates subsequently approached the High Court for appointments. The High Court directed the Board to appoint them based on TET inter-se positions. The Supreme Court overturned this, holding that the expired merit list could not be used for fresh appointments, and a fresh recruitment process had commenced. The Court held that the evaluation method prescribed in Rule 8 must be followed, not substituted, and candidates who approached the court three months after expiry had no legitimate claim.
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