The Calcutta High Court on Thursday clarified that it will not decide, for now, at what stage the 10 marks earmarked for prior teaching experience should be added to the scores of candidates appearing for the School Level Selection Test (SLST) 2025. The court said the issue is inseparably linked to a larger question currently pending before the Supreme Court — whether such marks can be awarded at all.
Justice Amrita Sinha passed the order after lawyers appearing for the parties informed the court that the apex court has already scheduled hearings on November 24 and 26 to examine the legality of granting experience marks to candidates.
The court was hearing a petition arguing that the 10 ‘experience marks’ should be added only while preparing the final merit list, and not during the shortlisting stage for interviews.
The West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) opposed this, asserting that the experience marks must be included while preparing the list of eligible candidates for the interview round.
The SLST-2 written examination for classes 11 and 12 was held in September 2025 after the Supreme Court quashed the entire 2016 recruitment panel over large-scale corruption.
Earlier this month, after the SSC published the written test results and issued interview calls, widespread protests erupted. Fresh candidates alleged that awarding experience marks to untainted 2016 candidates, now out of jobs due to the Supreme Court’s cancellation of the panel, unfairly reduced their chances of progressing to the next stage.
The SSC is yet to release the results for recruitment to classes 9 and 10, where it is likely to apply the same marking pattern.
In Thursday’s order, Justice Sinha observed that since the Supreme Court is already seized of the core question — whether experience marks may be granted at all — the stage of allotment can be decided only after the apex court’s ruling.
The judge also said the petitioners are free to move the Supreme Court for any further relief. Taking note of the upcoming hearing dates, the High Court listed the matter again for November 28.
