KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Monday, in two different rulings, set aside West Bengal Medical Council's order cancelling Trinamool MP Santanu Sen's medical license and also ordered for the exclusion of 'tainted' job seekers from the recruitment process for teaching and non-teaching staff as notified by the WBSSC.
Last week, the West Bengal Medical Council cancelled former Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen's registration as medical practitioner for two years from July 4, 2025, for his “infamous conduct”. Sen, a former National President of IMA, moved to the Calcutta High Court challenging the order.
Describing the West Bengal Medical Council order as “non speaking” and “cryptic”, Justice Amrita Sinha on Monday said that the petitioner was not informed of the reasons for passing the order.
Justice Sinha directed the Council to send to the petitioner any information, evidence, complaint, inquiry, based on which the order was passed. The Council was also directed to offer an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner to raise all issues in his defence, and pass a “reasoned” order.
The court, however, restrained Sen, having qualifications MBBS, DMRD, from using FRCP (Glasgow) in his letterhead until further orders. Justice Sinha directed that Sen may use the expression diploma FRCP as mentioned in the certificate obtained by him in 2019.
In another ruling on Monday, the Calcutta High Court ordered that ‘tainted or identified ineligible’ candidates must be excluded from the recruitment process of more than 44,000 teachers and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-run-and-aided schools. In his order Justice Saugata Bhattacharya said that if any 'tainted or identified ineligible' candidate has already applied, the application form should be rejected.
The High Court clearly stated that the recruitment process should be completed in accordance with the Supreme Court's order. However, the court noted that the recruitment process can be continued keeping in mind the notification issued by the WBSSC on May 30. The court did not interfere with the rest of the notification.
Earlier in this year, in a judgment the Supreme Court had annulled over 25,000 school jobs in West Bengal on the ground of illegalities in the 2016 recruitment process. Following orders of the apex court the WBSSC issued a new recruitment notification.
But it was alleged that the WBSSC notification of 2025 was against the Supreme Court's order. A case was filed in the Calcutta High Court challenging that notification.
The plaintiffs claim that the notification published for over 44,000 vacancies is not legal. The plaintiffs stated that as per the Supreme Court's order, the 2016 ‘selection’ process should be done as per the 'rules' of that year. And there is an order to do so from among the job seekers of 2016. But in this case, it was not followed. They also claimed that the age relaxation issue was not followed as per the order.
The plaintiffs further alleged that there was corruption in the 2016 recruitment process. Keeping that case in mind, the Supreme Court ordered that a fresh recruitment should be conducted. As a result, if a fresh selection process is conducted, it should be done as per the 2016 Recruitment Rules.
The state and the WBSSC made their argument in the High Court on Monday. They claimed that the Supreme Court's order does not state anywhere that specifically identified ‘ineligible’ job seekers will not be able to join the recruitment process.
However, the court was not satisfied with this argument.