The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a Calcutta High Court order terminating the appointment of about 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by West Bengal’s School Service Commission, PTI reported.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, however, allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to continue its inquiry into the case. The court directed the central agency not to take any coercive action such as arresting suspects.
The Supreme Court was hearing petitions filed by the West Bengal government and the state School Service Commission challenging the judgement delivered by the Calcutta High Court on April 22. The High Court had declared as null and void the 2016 State Level Selection Test for recruitment in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools, ordering the cancellation of about 25,000 appointments made through it.
The petitioners before the High Court had alleged that the jobs were given to candidates in return for money instead of candidates who had qualified in the recruitment process.
The West Bengal government challenged the April 22 order before the Supreme Court, contending that the appointments had been cancelled arbitrarily.
On Tuesday, Chandrachud said that the case appeared to be one of “systemic fraud” and would erode public faith in institutions.
“Public jobs are extremely scarce today and are looked at for social mobility,” he told lawyers representing the state government, PTI reported. “What remains in the system if their appointments are also maligned? People will lose faith, how do you countenance this?”
The chief justice also said that the state government did not appear to have data about the appointments. “You are unaware of the fact that your service provider has engaged another agency,” he told the state government. “You had to maintain supervisory control.”
During the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had asked if it was possible to segregate the untainted appointments from the invalid ones, as the Optical Mark Recognition sheets used in the recruitment process had been destroyed. In reply, the counsel for the petitioners said that secondary material was available.
The case will now be heard further on July 16.
Also read: Why Calcutta HC struck down 25,000 teachers’ appointments and how it could impact the election
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