New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the CBI to proceed with its investigation of the alleged irregularities in appointment of primary teachers in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools. The top court agreed with the submission of Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing on behalf of the CBI, that the agency is in the process of uncovering a recruitment scam of extraordinary dimension and the investigation at this stage prima facie reveals exchange of monetary considerations for giving appointments.
"In our opinion, under normal circumstances, it would not be appropriate to straightaway direct CBI investigation in a recruitment related controversy unless the allegations are so outrageous and the perpetrators of the alleged offences are so powerful that investigation by the state police would be ineffectual. "But considering the submission of counsel for the CBI and the fact that investigation by the said agency has substantially progressed, we do not want to stall such investigation at this stage and wait to see if the state police can carry on the same investigation impartially," a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Vikram Nath said.
The top court also stayed the order of the Calcutta High Court directing annulment of appointment of 269 candidates as teachers. It directed each of these 269 individuals to file affidavits to defend their appointment to the said posts and asked the appointing authority to examine legality of their appointments. "The CBI under the SIT shall continue their investigation as directed by the Single Judge and file a comprehensive report before this Court within a period of four weeks as regards progress of the investigation.