BJP MP and former HC judge says it’s possible to distinguish ‘tainted’ from ‘untainted’ candidates in WB recruitment scam

BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay proposes distinguishing 'tainted' from 'non-tainted' candidates in controversial WBSSC recruitment process.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former Calcutta High Court Judge, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, said on Tuesday (April 8, 2025) that distinguishing between ‘tainted’ and ‘non-tainted’ candidates among those appointed by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in the allegedly irregular 2016 recruitment process is feasible.

His comments come in the wake of a Supreme Court order on April 3, 2025, which upheld an earlier Calcutta High Court decision annulling the appointments of 25,752 teachers and non-teaching staff. This annulment, stemming from alleged irregularities in the selection process, has triggered significant disruption within the West Bengal school education system.

“It is possible to separate tainted from the non-tainted. The OMR [Optical Mark Reader] sheets which were recovered by the CBI can be made public by the State government, and it would reveal the ‘tainted’ from the ‘non-tainted’,” Mr. Gangopadhyay asserted. He further questioned whether the physical copies of the OMR sheets still existed or had potentially been destroyed.

The MP, accompanied by BJP leader Kaustav Bagchi and several teachers whose appointments were cancelled, visited the WBSSC office on Tuesday (April 8, 2025), presumably to press for a resolution based on his suggestion.

Mr. Gangopadhyay, who represents the Tamluk constituency, criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying, “I had urged Mamata Banerjee to rise above politics, but she did not bring out the list differentiating tainted from the non-tainted. She perhaps thought if she did not allow them [WBSSC/State] to make a distinction, they would be able to save their jobs.”

During his tenure as a judge at the Calcutta High Court, Mr. Gangopadhyay presided over the Bench that first brought the alleged irregularities in the 2016 WBSSC recruitment process to light and subsequently directed the CBI to investigate the matter.

The judge-turned-politician also suggested the formation of a committee, potentially including himself and other lawyers involved in the litigation, to examine the matter. However, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu dismissed the proposal, remarking that despite being a parliamentarian, the “MP is behaving like a Judge”.