West Bengal Teacher Recruitment Scam case: Supreme Court stays CBI probe against West Bengal Government officials

On April 29, 2024 (Monday), the Supreme Court (SC) of India stayed a Calcutta High Court order that directed the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) to probe the role of the West Bengal government officials in an alleged teacher recruitment scam. It said, “We will stay the direction which says the CBI will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government.” Moreover, the bench constituting Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Manoj Misra, and Justice JB Pardiwala refused to stay the Calcutta HC order concerning the termination of the appointment of about 25,000 teachers due to alleged irregularities. The top court said that it is a serious thing to take away jobs of about 25,000 persons. It observed, “Please demonstrate whether on the basis of material available it is possible to segregate valid and invalid appointments and who are the beneficiaries of the fraud. 25,000 is a big number. We see that 25,000 jobs taken away is a serious thing. Unless we see that the entire thing is fraught with fraud…” The matter was listed for hearing on May 06, 2024 (Monday). 

The SC was hearing the petitions filed by the State of West Bengal, the SSC (School Service Commission), and certain affected employees against the April 22 judgment of the Calcutta HC. As per the order, the HC canceled the entire panel of the 2016 SSC Recruitment and ordered the state to conduct a fresh examination for the same. Moreover, it also ordered the appointees (recognized to have been fraudulently appointed) to return the salary they had drawn. The petition filed by the West Bengal State, the SSC, and other employees was heard by the SC yesterday (April 29). The petition filed by the Bengal Government reads, “The Hon’ble High Court failed to appreciate the ramification of canceling the entire selection process leading to straightaway termination of 23,123 teaching and non-teaching staff from service with immediate effect, without giving sufficient time to the Petitioner State to deal with such an exigency, rendering the education system at a stand-still.” 

During the proceedings on April 29, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued before the top court. After hearing the matter, the bench observed “Look at how it’s done…OMR sheet completely destroyed, mirror images not there, people not in the panel are recruited…this is a complete fraud.” Considering that the OMR sheets have been destroyed, the top court asked whether segregation of untainted appointments was possible. The bench stayed the CBI probe in an alleged teacher recruitment scam as ordered by the Calcutta HC but refused to stay the termination of about 25,000 teachers due to alleged irregularities.