Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the School Service Commission (SSC) to publish the list of tainted candidates in the 2016 SSC panel within seven days. The order came after the apex court repeatedly asked the commission why this list had not been published, adding that it would monitor SSC's actions and intervene if necessary.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma said the SC was monitoring the recruitment process. Justice Kumar noted that the Calcutta High Court had previously ordered the publication of the list of tainted candidates — an order which the apex court did not intervene in or modify — and questioned why SSC had not published it till now.
During Thursday's deliberations, Justice Kumar inquired whether SSC had made the list public, to which its counsel and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee initially claimed it was published.
However, he later apologised for the incorrect assertion, admitting that the list had not been made public but the list of untainted candidates was in public domain.
Justice Sharma expressed his concern about this inconsistency, highlighting that the court relied on SSC's submissions in court. Following this, Banerjee requested the bench to give it seven days to publish the list, a timeline the Supreme Court accepted.
The court warned that if the list was not published within this period, the petitioners could bring the matter back to court.
Justice Kumar reiterated that while the court would not comment on untainted candidates, it will not remain silent on tainted ones.
After SSC rolled out the new recruitment process, untainted candidates who lost their jobs appealed to the apex court to delay the exam schedule. However, the Supreme Court rejected their plea, affirming that the exams would proceed as scheduled, on Sept 7 and 14.
The SC also questioned SSC why it had approached the Calcutta High Court on behalf of tainted candidates without publishing the list. The court ordered the publication of the list within seven days.
The court's instructions included holding exams on Sept 7 and 14, barring ineligible candidates from sitting for the exam, allowing eligible candidates to apply until Sept 2, and issuing admit cards thereafter.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma warned that if the list was not published within this period, the petitioners could bring the matter back to court.