GUWAHATI: The Supreme Court has overturned a Calcutta High Court directive ordering a CBI investigation into the West Bengal government’s decision to create additional posts in the education sector.
These posts were meant to absorb nearly 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff whose appointments were recently annulled after the state’s School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment process was deemed illegitimate.
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A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justice Sanjay Kumar, ruled that judicial scrutiny does not extend to cabinet-level decisions, deeming the High Court’s order to probe such decisions as improper. The verdict came in response to a petition filed by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led government challenging the earlier order. Last week, the Supreme Court delivered a major blow to the state government by invalidating the SSC recruitment process, calling it deeply compromised by large-scale fraud and manipulation. “The scale of deceit and attempted concealment has irreparably tainted the process,” the court stated, effectively rejecting the possibility of salvaging the list by distinguishing between ‘tainted’ and ‘untainted’ candidates.
The Bengal government had sought to separate those involved in the scam from legitimate recruits, but the court said that given the widespread corruption, such verification would be unfeasible.
Mamata Banerjee, reacting strongly to the ruling, pledged to defend genuinely deserving teachers. She argued that recruitment scandals are not unique to West Bengal, citing alleged exam irregularities in BJP-governed states like Madhya Pradesh (Vyapam scam) and paper leaks in national medical entrance tests (NEET).
Banerjee also accused political opponents, particularly the BJP and CPI(M), of orchestrating a campaign to destabilise the state's education system.
At the core of the controversy are the supernumerary posts created by the state following revelations that in 2016, over 23 lakh candidates appeared for SSC exams for 24,640 vacancies, but 25,753 appointment letters were issued—sparking accusations of illegal hiring.
The scandal has already reportedly led to the arrests of several senior figures, including former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, a close ally of Banerjee.BJP leader Amit Malviya hailed the Supreme Court verdict as a "crushing blow" to the Chief Minister, insisting she must be held accountable for overseeing what he called a career-ending scam for thousands of young aspirants.
Despite the backlash, Mamata Banerjee said her administration would not take the ruling personally and is committed to reworking and re-conducting the recruitment process.
