West Bengal’s School Service Commission (SSC) on Saturday published a list of 1,804 disqualified candidates in line with a Supreme Court order that barred “tainted” job-holders from sitting in upcoming recruitment exams.

The court had directed the SSC to release the list within seven days, after questioning why earlier orders from the Calcutta High Court had not been implemented.

Drama unfolded at the SSC headquarters before the release. A draft version of the list briefly circulated but was withdrawn before being uploaded. SSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar later held a meeting with officials and legal advisers, and the final list was published online in the evening.

Two SSC recruitment tests are scheduled for Sept. 7 and Sept. 14. The Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma has ruled that those named on the disqualified list cannot appear for the exams.

The commission’s release did not specify how many disqualified candidates had been appointed in secondary or higher secondary categories. Earlier, officials had indicated that around 180 disqualified individuals had applied for fresh recruitment, but their identities were not disclosed in the list.

Reacting to the publication, Suman Biswas, representing qualified teachers, said, “Had this list come earlier, we would not have suffered so much. We were left like living corpses. We will approach the Supreme Court again.”