Supreme Court Ends Bengal Officer Investigation Following 26,000 Teacher Job Losses

The Supreme Court on Monday postponed the Calcutta High Court verdict, which instructed the CBI to look into West Bengal government officials’ possible involvement in a teacher recruitment fraud. This decision greatly relieved the Mamata Banerjee-led government. The state government had petitioned the highest court to overturn a previous ruling that had invalidated 25,753 teachers’ and non-teaching staff members’ appointments by the School Service Commission to state-run and state-aided schools.

A bench made up of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra declared, “We will stick with the direction which says the CBI will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government.” In an appeal to the highest court, the state government contested the order, claiming that the appointments had been canceled arbitrarily. The Bengal government read the high court’s petition and found that it had overlooked the consequences of canceling the entire selection process, which would have resulted in the immediate termination of the services of both teaching and non-teaching staff. The state had not been given enough time to deal with this emergency, which would have brought the education system to a complete halt.

The CBI will look into the individuals in the state administration who approved the formation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments, according to the Calcutta High Court’s ruling. The high court went on to say that the CBI will question anyone implicated in custody if necessary.