Supreme Court Extends Stay on CBI Probe into West Bengal School Jobs Scam

The Supreme Court of India has extended its earlier order, directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to refrain from taking any coercive action until May 7, in connection with the investigation into the West Bengal government’s appointment of 25,753 teachers.

This decision came after the matter was deferred due to time constraints and is scheduled to be heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on May 7.

The West Bengal government had approached the Supreme Court on April 24, filing an appeal against the Calcutta High Court’s ruling that invalidated and annulled the appointments made by the state’s School Service Commission (SSC) in government-run schools.

The state government contested the high court’s decision, arguing that the cancellations were done arbitrarily, lacking proper justification.

During the last hearing on April 29, the Supreme Court displayed a compassionate stance, acknowledging the severity of the situation where approximately 25,000 individuals faced the loss of employment.

However, it underscored the necessity of identifying those who benefited from the fraudulent activities.

In its interim order on April 29, the Supreme Court, comprising Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, declined to stay the Calcutta High Court’s ruling to cancel the appointments made in 2016.

The controversy arose from the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) recruitment process, where around 23 lakh candidates competed for 25,000 teaching positions. Allegations surfaced that many candidates secured jobs through incorrect evaluation of their OMR Sheets.

The Calcutta High Court, represented by Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi, declared the SLST recruitment procedure null and void, ordering the cancellation of all appointments made through this process in government-sponsored and aided institutions across West Bengal.

Despite the West Bengal government’s appeal, citing arbitrary cancellation without sufficient reasoning, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s decision, refusing to stay the cancellation of the 2016 appointments.

This ongoing legal saga underscores the complex issues surrounding the integrity of recruitment processes and the challenges in rectifying them.