Supreme Court Stops Investigation of Bengal Officers After 26,000 Teachers Are Fired

The Calcutta High Court order directing the CBI to probe into the role of West Bengal government officials in an alleged teacher recruitment scam was stayed by the Supreme Court on Monday. This decision came as a huge relief to the Mamata Banerjee-led government. The top court was hearing a petition by the state 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.

“We will stay the direction which says the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government,” said a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra. In its appeal filed before the top court, the state government challenged the high court order, stating that the appointments were cancelled “arbitrarily”. The state government further argued that the high court failed to understand the consequences of cancelling the entire selection process, leading to immediate termination of teaching and non-teaching staff from service without sufficient time to address the situation, which essentially halted the education system.

The Calcutta High Court’s directive stated that the CBI would undertake further investigations regarding the persons involved in the state government approving the creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments. The high court also mentioned that, if necessary, the CBI would conduct custodial interrogation of those involved.