Amid growing unrest over the Supreme Court’s decision to cancel the appointments of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff recruited through the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has publicly pledged her support for the affected individuals. Speaking at Netaji Indoor Stadium to a large gathering of dismissed teachers, Banerjee criticized the judgment, questioned the rationale behind the blanket dismissal, and drew comparisons with alleged irregularities in national-level exams like NEET.

"The Supreme Court must clarify who is deserving and who is not. Why was the entire exam process in Bengal scrapped, but not NEET where serious allegations were raised? Why is Bengal being singled out?" Mamata asked. "If they can tell us who is tainted and who is not, we’ll respect the decision. Otherwise, we will stand by you. You won’t have to beg — I’ll ensure you are compensated."

Supreme Court Cites Massive Irregularities

The Supreme Court, in a scathing order delivered last week, struck down the WBSSC’s recruitment process, calling it “vitiated and tainted beyond resolution.” The bench, headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, cited large-scale rank manipulation, appointments made outside the merit panel, and destruction of crucial OMR sheets. The Court stated that these acts had compromised the integrity of the recruitment process to such an extent that identifying only the tainted candidates was impossible. It concluded that “the entire selection process was intentionally compromised,” and directed the West Bengal government to reinitiate the recruitment process within three months. However, the court added a compassionate clause — those not directly implicated in wrongdoing would not be required to return salaries already received, but their appointments would still be invalidated.

In a passionate speech, Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP and CPM of orchestrating a conspiracy to destabilize Bengal’s education system. “You’ve weaponized the judiciary to attack our government. You want to take down Bengal’s talent and legacy. But we won’t bow down,” she declared, vowing legal countermeasures. She added that a review petition will be filed soon and encouraged the dismissed teachers to continue working until they receive formal termination letters. “Suffer for two months, not for twenty years,” she told them, promising both compensation and support in the interim. The crowd of affected teachers at the event echoed her sentiment. Many said they would refuse to retake the exam, citing the injustice of being punished despite years of honest service. “We’ll stand firm and challenge the decision legally,” one teacher said. Banerjee also drew attention to similar incidents in BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh’s Vyapam scam, where several people reportedly died under mysterious circumstances, but no mass dismissals or systemic reviews took place.

The state government has said it will seek clarification from the Supreme Court, and a review petition is in the works. Meanwhile, the affected teachers have vowed to protest and legally challenge the blanket cancellation, demanding differentiation between those involved in fraud and those who were genuinely selected. As political tensions mount and legal pathways unfold, the future of thousands of teachers hangs in balance, with West Bengal now at the epicenter of a national conversation on recruitment integrity, judicial overreach, and political accountability.