Supreme Court to hear case over Bengal govt's creation of supernumerary posts in schools today

The Supreme Court had imposed a stay on the Calcutta High Court's verdict where it had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take members of the state cabinet into custody for probe if necessary.

The stay order was passed by a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by erstwhile Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud in April 2024.

If the top court removes the stay order, the Mamata Banerjee government will again be vulnerable to the CBI probe.

It is alleged that the state government had created the supernumerary posts to accommodate candidates who were appointed illegally in exchange for money.

Mamata govt faces ire over SC's SSC order

In a massive judgement, the Supreme Court last week cancelled appointments of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff by the School Service Commission (SSC) upholding the Calcutta High Court's order.

The top court passed the order after the SSC failed to provide two separate lists of deserving and undeserving candidates after the government faced corruption allegations in the recruitment process.

A top court bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said the selection process was "vitiated and tainted by fraud".

In April 2024, the Calcutta High Court had cancelled recruitment of nearly 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff in government-sponsored and government-aided schools, dismissing the entire 2016 teacher recruitment panel.

The panel was constituted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

Erstwhile state education minister Partha Chatterjee, former primary education board president and Trinamool MLA Manik Bhattacharya, youth leader Kuntal Ghosh are among the people who were arrested so far in connection with the scam.

Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Ganguly, who is now contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, had ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.

Mamata backs deserving candidates

Speaking at a meeting with the job losers in Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium, Mamata on Monday announced a review petition has been filed in the top court seeking a reconsideration of the rule that has placed the Trinamool Congress government under massive criticism.

"Do not think that I have accepted the verdict. We are not stone-hearted. I may be jailed for saying this but I don't care. I can't shy away from supporting people in their tough times," she said.

Mamata on Monday said if the court does not reconsider its rule then she has multiple plans to explore to ensure the deserving candidates do not lose their jobs.

"There are two parts, one is the deserving set of candidates and the other is undeserving. If the Supreme Court verdict on the petition seeking reconsideration is favourable, it's fine. If it's not, then I have plans to accommodate all deserving candidates. I assure them that they won't suffer," the Chief Minister said.

"In the meantime, I would appeal to all to continue their service. Remember, no one can stop you from giving voluntary service. If you battle out the situation for two months, you won't suffer in the long run," she added.