New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the CBI probe against West Bengal government officials' in the teachers' recruitment case. However, the apex court refused to stay the Calcutta High Court order regarding termination of over 25,000 teachers allegedly recruited in the state.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said: “We will stay the direction which says the CBI will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government”. However, the bench declined to stay the high court order in connection with the termination of over 25,000 teachers.
The bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, expressed serious concern about the agency which conducted the recruitment test and told the West Bengal government counsel that it has to satisfy the court on how the Calcutta High Court had gone wrong. “Look at how it's done...OMR sheet completely destroyed, mirror images not there, people not on the panel are recruited...this is a complete fraud," the CJI orally observed.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi questioned the high court’s decision to set aside all the appointments even when the CBI had found irregularities in only 8000 names. A counsel argued that there was no need to set aside all the appointments when the untainted appointments could have been segregated.
The bench queried how it is possible to segregate the untainted appointments given that the OMR sheets have been destroyed. A counsel pointed out that secondary material is available.
The bench said the question to all counsel, representing the state government, to establish that on the basis of material available is it possible to segregate valid and invalid appointments and stressed that 25000 is a big number. The bench said that 25,000 jobs were taken away, which is a serious thing.
After hearing submissions, the apex court scheduled the matter for further hearing on May 6.
The apex court was hearing a plea by the West Bengal government against a high court order invalidating the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the School Service Commission (SSC) in state-run and state-aided schools.
The high court had said the CBI would undertake further investigations with regard to the persons involved in the state government approving the creation of a supernumerary post to accommodate illegal appointments. The state government moved the apex court challenging the high court order. "The high court failed to appreciate the ramification of cancelling the entire selection process, leading to straightaway termination of 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 standstill," said the state’s plea.
