Today, On 6th May, The Supreme Court extended the stay order on the CBI probe into the Bengal School Jobs Scam. The investigation remains on hold pending further court proceedings. The decision comes amidst ongoing legal complexities surrounding the case. The extension prolongs the uncertainty surrounding the potential investigation outcomes.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, On Monday, extended its previous order and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to refrain from taking any coercive action until, May 7 Tuesday. The court also continued its stay on the CBI investigation into government officials in West Bengal.
Due to time constraints, the hearing on the matter had to be postponed. It will now be heard by a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on May 7.
On April 24, the West Bengal government filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court‘s ruling that invalidated and annulled the appointment of 25,753 teachers by the state’s School Service Commission (SSC) in government schools.
Read Also: West Bengal Moves Supreme Court: “Why 24k School Job Appointments Were Cancelled?”
The state government, in its appeal filed with the Supreme Court, challenged the Calcutta High Court’s order, stating that the cancellation of the appointments was done arbitrarily without providing sufficient justification.
During the previous hearing on April 29, the Supreme Court took a compassionate approach and acknowledged that the revocation of jobs for approximately 25,000 individuals was a grave matter. However, the court also emphasized the need to identify the beneficiaries of the fraudulent activity.
The interim order, passed on April 29, issued by a bench comprising Chief Justice Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, after considering the appeal filed by the state government.
However, the Supreme Court declined to halt the Calcutta High Court‘s ruling to annul approximately 25,000 appointments made in 2016. Notably, around 23 lakh candidates participated in the teacher’s exams for these 25,000 job openings in 2016. Allegations surfaced before the High Court claiming that a significant number of candidates awarded jobs due to inaccuracies in evaluating their OMR Sheets.
The High Court Bench comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi issued an order declaring the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) recruitment process as “null and void.” Consequently, the court mandated the annulment of all appointments made under this process in government-sponsored and aided institutions in the Eastern Indian state.
In its appeal to the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court‘s decision, the state government argued that the HC revoked the appointments “arbitrarily” and lacked adequate justification for its actions.
The plea filed by the state government in the Supreme Court stated,
“The High Court’s order was flawed as it did not grasp the consequences of annulling the entire selection process, which would result in the immediate termination of teaching and non-teaching staff without allowing sufficient time for the state to address this urgent situation, thus pausing the education system,”
The West Bengal teachers’ scandal revolves around the recruitment process for assistant teachers in various classes and Group C (clerks) and D positions within the state. Applicants were required to undergo a Teacher eligibility test (TET), an interview, and a personality assessment. The selection of teachers was based on a combination of their TET scores, academic achievements, performance in the interview, and results of the personality test.
However, the High Court discovered that proper procedures were not followed during the appointment process, leading to the cancellation of the entire procedure of appointment. In its ruling, the Calcutta High Court instructed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the case, including comparing hard disks with the SSC database, as it was alleged that the original OMR sheets had been destroyed.