Calcutta High Court Upholds SSC Ineligible List, Says ‘We Can’t Act’

The Calcutta High Court’s division bench has upheld the 1806-member tainted list, rejecting a challenge and denying ineligible candidates the chance to appear in the examination. Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Ritabrata Kumar Mitra delivered the ruling, maintaining the SSC’s original list.

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritabrata Kumar Mitra questioned why the litigants had not approached the Supreme Court sooner, given that the top court's verdict was delivered in April.

Anindya Lahiri, the lawyer representing the litigants, argued, "We were not aware of such an ineligible list. The list was internal to the SSC. We were issued admit cards to appear in the examination. Now that the ineligible list has been published, our names are included in it."

On the other hand, Kalyan Banerjee, the Commission's lawyer, stated, "In addition to the three sections of ineligibility, issues such as OMR mismatch, rank jump, white paper, outside the panel, and employment after the end of the panel term were considered." The judges responded, "The Supreme Court has declared employment outside the panel as wrong. Why were admit cards then issued to those candidates?"

Kalyan Banerjee countered, "The plaintiffs alleged that 184 people were not listed as ineligible and continued their jobs. These individuals are not considered ineligible or tainted by the SSC. It is the plaintiffs themselves who have been considered tainted."

The division bench inquired when the plaintiffs were issued admit cards and why they were suddenly cancelled if issued before August 30. Banerjee replied, "We received 5 lakh applications for the examination. Not all applications were scrutinised at that time. These were cancelled within 3-4 days." He added, "The single bench ruled that the ineligible candidates could not sit for the exam. We appealed to the division bench, which rejected our application."

Kalyan Banerjee further explained, "The eligible candidates possibly approached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ordered the list of ineligibles to be published on August 29 and stated that these ineligible candidates could not sit for the exam."

Kalyan Banerjee suggested, "If the court believes the ineligible candidates should be allowed to sit for the exam, the Commission's mistake should not mean that its officials are perpetually under pressure. The Commission issued provisional admit cards to everyone. If a mistake was made, the Commission will rectify it later. The Supreme Court has accepted our position."

Banerjee also commented, "In the court's eyes, everyone is equal. When the Commission issued the admit cards, the hope of securing a job arose in their minds. Can we not give the litigants a chance to sit for the exam? Since none of them continued their jobs past December 31, they are all seeking fair treatment."

Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, heading the division bench, concluded, "The entire matter is now under the Supreme Court's consideration. Can we act on the top court's orders? Can the litigants present any legal recourse to accept the applications of the ineligible? Let the litigants approach the Supreme Court. We cannot take any action.''