In Brief
The West Bengal School Service Commission's 2016 recruitment process for approximately 24,000 teaching and non-teaching positions was plagued by systemic fraud, including OMR sheet manipulation, rank-jumping, appointments of unqualified candidates, and destruction of evidence. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's order cancelling the entire selection en bloc, holding that widespread illegalities affecting thousands of candidates rendered segregation of tainted from untainted candidates impossible. Candidates appointed through fraudulent means must refund salaries; other appointees' services are terminated but without wage recovery. Previously employed candidates may rejoin former positions with preserved seniority. The Court rejected pleas of delay and laches, as fraud was deliberately concealed and only uncovered during investigation.
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