made it clear on Thursday that it won't allow any tainted candidate to appear in the Sept 7 and 14 SSC exams under any circumstances. The court, hearing a fresh plea by disabled candidates to appear in the fresh tests, dismissed all the cases.
A bench of justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe added that no further appeal by any tainted candidate would be heard by the apex court. Justice Kumar also asked: "Wasn't CBI supposed to interrogate those with criminal records? What happened to that?"
"We have repeatedly stated that those with criminal records cannot sit for the exams. Why are there so many cases with the same appeal? Many lives were ruined because of these disqualified individuals," Justice Kumar said.
The SC also questioned why the state's advocate general was present at Calcutta High Court's hearings on cases by the tainted candidates. The bench questioned how lawyers could continue to file appeals on behalf of these individuals despite the court's clear ruling.
On Thursday, a Calcutta High Court division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetobroto Kumar Mitra also dismissed cases filed by 350 tainted candidates seeking to sit for the exams.
Previously, admit cards were issued to these disqualified individuals but the SSC later cancelled them. Justice Mitra questioned why officials involved in this process should not be held accountable.
The HC bench also questioned the SSC's role. Justice Tapobrata Chakraborty asked: "Why don't your officers lose their jobs?" SSC's lawyer Kalyan Banerjee said: "Among so many applicants, it was not possible to distinguish who was disqualified and who was not. It was a mistake. However, we do not support this process."